LA PORCELAINE DE HEREND HEREND PORCELAIN

LA PORCELAINE DE HEREND 

HEREND PORCELAIN


HEREND PORCELAIN


HEREND PORCELAIN 

Musée Ariana, Genève 

Ville de Genève, Département de la culture 

Musée Ariana, Geneva 

City of Geneva, Department of Culture

Roland Blaettler 

Conservateur du Musée Ariana 

Introduction 

Roland Blaettler 

Curator of the Musée Ariana 

Introduction 

La première impulsion qui allait donner naissance au 

présent projet nous est venue de la présidente de la 

Fondation Euro-Art, laquelle a déjà soutenu activement 

plusieurs échanges culturels entre la Hongrie et la Suisse, 

notamment les grandes expositions Giacometti et Hodler 

présentées au Musée des Beaux Arts de Budapest, 

respectivement en 2003 et 2008. Lorsque Monika 

Rudolf-Schmidt nous approcha avec l’idée d’organiser 

dans nos murs une exposition consacrée à la porcelaine 

de Herend, nous n’avons pas tardé à entrer en matière, 

et pour plusieurs raisons. D’abord parce que la manufacture 

hongroise, bien qu’elle soit de création relativement 

récente, occupe une place bien à elle dans l’histoire 

de la porcelaine européenne. Même si elle s’est forgé son 

savoir-faire et sa réputation d’abord en revisitant les 

grands classiques du XVIII e siècle, l’âge d’or de la porcelaine 

européenne, se situant ainsi aux avant-postes de 

l‘historicisme naissant, elle réussira à imposer sa propre 

identité et à se positionner d’emblée sur un marché 

international de haut de gamme. 

Nous en voulons pour preuve le fait que le Musée Ariana 

conserve aujourd’hui cent dix porcelaines de Herend, 

dont seize spécimens particulièrement intéressants (par 

exemple le service Watteau N° 7) qui furent acquis par 

le fondateur du musée lui-même, Gustave Revilliod 

(1817-1890). S’agissant de sa collection de céramique – 

qui ne constituait alors qu’un aspect parmi d’autres de 

son musée encyclopédique – l’ambition de Revilliod était 

clairement de rassembler un panorama aussi complet 

que possible de l’histoire de la céramique européenne. 

Herend est pratiquement la seule manufacture «moderne» 

à figurer dans son catalogue. En regard de la 

notice correspondant à un vase de type Wales (voir 

N° 33-35), on y lit une appréciation particulière, comme 

il n’y en a que peu dans ledit catalogue: «travail remarquable». 

Pour un amateur comme Revilliod, Herend 

comptait assurément parmi les meilleures productions 

de l’époque, d’autant plus que le style historiciste de ces 

porcelaines correspondait parfaitement à sa sensibilité, 

comme en témoignent les partis pris esthétiques qui se 

manifestent dans l’architecture de l’Ariana. 

Dans notre exposition nous avons ménagé une large 

place aux porcelaines inspirées de la Chine et du Japon, 

parce que nous y voyons l’une des contributions les plus 

originales et les plus stimulantes de Herend, mais également 

parce que cet aspect rejoint l’une des lignes de force 

de nos collections et de notre exposition permanente, 

l’histoire sans cesse renouvelée des échanges réciproques 

entre les cultures céramiques d’Orient et d’Occident. 

Que soient remerciées ici les personnes et les institutions 

qui ont permis la réalisation de cette exposition. Notre 

collègue Gabriella Balla, conservatrice au Musée des 

arts décoratifs de Budapest, pour sa contribution à la 

présente publication, mais également pour l‘ouvrage 

qu’elle publia en 2003, Herend Porcelain. A Hungarian 

institution, une remarquable histoire de la manufacture 

qui nous a guidés et inspirés tout au long de la conception 

de ce projet. 

The impetus for this project initially came from the 

President of the Euro-Art Foundation, who had already 

actively supported a number of cultural exchanges 

between Hungary and Switzerland, especially the major 

Giacometti and Hodler exhibitions held in Budapest Fine 

Art Museum in 2003 and 2008 respectively. When 

Monika Rudolf-Schmidt approached us with the idea of 

organising an exhibition of Herend porcelain in our 

museum, we wasted no time in following up the idea, for 

several reasons. The first was that this Hungarian porcelain 

manufacturer, although relatively recent, has a place 

all of its own in the history of European porcelain. Even 

if it first earned its knowhow and reputation by revisiting 

the great classics of the 18th century, the golden age of 

European porcelain, and thus was an early adopter of 

the then nascent historicism, it successfully imposed its 

own identity and occupied an upmarket international 

position from the start. 

Proof of that is provided by the fact that the Ariana 

Museum currently holds 110 pieces of Herend china, 

including 16 particularly interesting specimens (the 

Watteau service for example - No. 7) acquired by the 

museum’s founder, Gustave Revilliod (1817-1890). 

Revilliod’s ambition for his ceramics collection – which 

was only one of the many facets of his encyclopaedic 

museum – was clearly to collect as complete a panorama 

as possible of the history of European ceramics. Herend 

is practically the only “modern” porcelain factory in his 

catalogue. Opposite the entry for a Wales–type vase (see 

Nos. 33-35), we find a particular judgement that occurs 

only rarely in this catalogue: “remarkable work“. To a 

ceramics-lover like Revilliod, Herend was definitely one 

of the best producers of the period, especially as the 

historicist style of these pieces of china was perfectly in 

tune with his own sensibility, as is shown by the aesthetic 

bias in the architecture of the Musée Ariana. 

In our exhibition, we have given a good deal of space to 

China and Japan-inspired porcelain, because we consider 

them to be among Herend’s most original and stimula ting 

contributions, but also because that aspect fits in with 

one of the main themes of our collections and our perma - 

nent exhibition: the constantly renewed story of mutual 

exchanges between the ceramic cultures of East and West. 

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the people and 

institutions that enabled this exhibition to be mounted. 

Our colleague, Gabriella Balla, Curator at the Budapest 

Museum of Applied Arts, for her contribution to this 

publication, but also for the book she published in 2003, 

“Herend Porcelain. A Hungarian institution” – a remar - 

kable history of the factory that guided and inspired us 

throughout the creation of this project. 

This exhibition would not have been as dazzling without 

the high-quality pieces the Museum of Applied Arts in 

Budapest was kind enough to entrust to us temporarily. 

We are profoundly grateful to its director, Mrs Zsuszanna 

Renner, and to Mr Zsombor Jékely, who is in charge of 

research and exhibitions. 

5

Gabriella Balla 

Conservateur au Musée des arts 

appliqués, Budapest 


Curator at the Museum of Applied Arts, 

Budapest 

La Manufacture de Herend 

The Herend Manufactory 

6 Cette exposition n’aurait pas eu le même éclat sans les 

œuvres de qualité que le Musée des arts décoratifs de 

Budapest a bien voulu nous confier temporairement, 

nous en sommes profondément reconnaissants à sa 

directrice, M me Zsuzsanna Renner, ainsi qu’à M. Zsombor 

Jékely, responsable de la recherche et des expositions. 

La majorité des œuvres nous ont été généreusement 

prêtées par le Musée de la porcelaine de Herend et par 

la Manufacture de Herend, laquelle nous a également 

fourni un appréciable soutien logistique. Notre vive reconnaissance 

va à MM. Attila Simon, directeur général 

de la Manufacture de Herend; László Szesztay, directeur 

commercial; Endre Körös, président du Conseil de la 

fondation du Musée de la porcelaine de Herend, ainsi 

qu’à leurs collaborateurs. 

Nous remercions chaleureusement M. László Szathmáry, 

de la Manufacture de Herend, qui a assumé avec compétence 

et enthousiasme la lourde tâche de coordinateur 

en Hongrie pour l’organisation de l’exposition et pour la 

production du présent ouvrage. Un merci tout particulier 

également à Monika Rudolf-Schmidt. Sans son initiative 

et sans son assistance efficace et amicale, Herend n’aurait 

peut-être pas trouvé le chemin de Genève! 

The majority of the pieces have been generously lent to 

us by the Herend Porcelain Museum and by the Herend 

Porcelain Manufactory, which also gave us appreciable 

logistic support. Deep gratitude is due to Mr Attila 

Simon, the General Director of the Manufactory; Mr 

László Szesztay, the Commercial Director; Mr Endre 

Körös, President of the Foundation of the Herend Porcelain 

Museum, and their colleagues. 

We warmly thank Mr László Szathmáry of the Herend 

Manufactory, who with skill and enthusiasm undertook 

the heavy task of coordinator in Hungary for the organisation 

of the exhibition and the production of this book. 

Very particular thanks also go to Monika Rudolf-Schmidt. 

Without her initiative and her efficient and friendly 

assistance, Herend might not have found the way to 

Geneva! 

The original version of the small ornamental vase with 

a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, and 

today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. The 

gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase s 

shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting 

green- and red-scaled dragons appear amongst 

turquoise and green clouds; the back and the front 

panels have two larger paintings each representing 

the life of Chinese aristocracyThe original version of 

the small ornamental vase with a lid glittering as a 

jewel was made in 1856, and today it is kept in the 

Museum of Applied Arts. The gilded handle of the 

richly coloured lid of the vase s shaped like a Lion of 

Fo. Underneath it, fighting green- and red-scaled 

dragons appear amongst turquoise and green clouds; 

the back and the front panels have two larger paintings 

each representing the life of Chinese aristocracyvThe 

original version of the small ornamental vase 

with a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, and 















each representing the life of Chinese aristocracyThe 









the life of Chinese aristocracy haped like a Lion of Fo. 

Underneath it, fighting green- and red-scaled dragons 

appear amongst turquoise and green clouds; the back 

and the front panels have two larger paintings each 

representing the life of Chinese aristocracy 

Chapters from the history of Hungarian ceramic 

The medieval kingdom of Hungary – in the time of the 

Árpád kings, Robert Charles, Louis the Great, Sigismund 

of Luxembourg and Matthias – was a major power in 

Europe. Throughout the Middle Ages, the kingdom 

maintained extensive commercial and cultural contacts 

with both western and eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. 

In this period and during the Renaissance, the 

stock of luxurious household goods owned by the court 

almost certainly included a few examples of fine cera - 

mics. A new technique in the art of ceramics, tin glazing, 

emerged in Italy in the 15 th century, and later in the 

hands of Italian potters it developed into a much admired 

art. The Hungarian royal couple – Matthias Corvinus and 

his wife, Beatrice of Aragon, were among the first European 

rulers to receive decorative platters adorned with 

their coat of arms, allegorical depictions, and figural and 

ornamental painting. Once thought to have been made 

in Faenza, these dishes – parts of the Corvinus-service – 

were most likely presented by the prince of Pesaro, 

Costanzo Sforza, and his wife, Camille of Aragon. The 

court of Matthias Corvinus was thus one of the first 

recipients of Italian majolica beyond the Alps. Under the 

direction of Italian masters, majolica workshops even 

operated in Buda. The tin-glazed floor tiles painted with 

the emblems of Matthias and the house of Aragon were 

used primarily to decorate the rooms of the royal palace 

in Buda. Art of the Matthias period continued to impact 

Hungarian art and culture for centuries. The centralized 

power of the Hungarian Kingdom, however, crumbled 

several decades after Matthias’ death as a result of 

repeated attacks by the conquering Ottoman Turkish 

forces. The Hungarian troops suffered serious losses at 

the battle of Mohács (1526), and later with the fall of 

Buda (1541) the country was divided into three parts. 

The eastern part comprised the independent principality 

of Transylvania, the central region was under Turkish rule, 

while the north-western area remained as the surviving 

Kingdom of Hungary under Habsburg rule. Turkish occupation 

lasted a century and a half, and the towns and 

villages of the central region were depopulated. Never - 

theless, the ceramic art of this period was rich, and 

exported Turkish ware – especially the art of Iznik – had 

a powerful influence on the repertoire of motifs used in 

Hungary. A Turkish-Persian element in the decoration of 

17 th century Haban pottery, which at first relied mainly 

on Faentine motifs, became increasingly common. The 

Hungarian aristocracy highly regarded this white dishware, 

the so-called bianchi di Faenza, and numerous 

inventories list this kind of dishware along with Turkish 

rugs and silverworks. The Haban workshops produced 

not only gallantly simple tableware (teapots, lids, bottles, 

platters, bowls and fingerbowls) painted with cobalt, 

antimony, bronze oxide and manganese, displaying the 

year, the patron’s monogram and occasionally his name, 

but also stove tiles used to build large columnar stoves 

with decorative mouldings. Porcelain appeared less 

frequently on stock lists in 17 th century Hungary than in 

European territories west of the River Leitha. Rare Chinese 

porcelains set in precious metals were considered 

7

8 The original version of the small ornamental vase with 















































treasury goods. At present there are no precise data 

on how much early European-made porcelain was purchased 

by the Hungarian aristocracy; but the family 

inventories of the Esterházy princes, for example, mention 

Viennese Du Paquier porcelain. In the second half of 

he 18 th century Hungarian demand for finely painted, 

quality tableware and toiletry goods was met by faience 

manufacturers in Hungary and porcelain manufacturers, 

protected by imperial and royal monopolies, in Vienna. 

The most important and best known Hungarian ceramics 

factory was established in Holics by Emperor Francis of 

Lorraine on an estate purchased from the Czobor family. 

Employing numerous skilled craftsmen from abroad, 

the works at Holics had already achieved significant 

levels of production by 1743. Like Herend products a 

century later, the goods made in Holics draw upon forms 

and patterns used in European faience manufacturing, 

relying in particular on the decorative schemes used in 

Strasbourg, which also belonged to Emperor Francis’s 

pro perty in Alsace Lorraine. But manufacturers in Mous - 

tiers, Rouen, Castelli and Durlach also exerted influence. 

A particularly valuable ensemble from the faience works 

of Holics are the finely sculpted trompe l’oeil tableware 

decorated with an assortment of elements from nature – 

roses, cabbage, bundles of asparagus, pineapples, 

pheasants, capons, and parrots. Also interesting are the 

sculptures frequently modelled on original prototypes 

from Meissen. The most important sculptor at work in 

Holics was Antal Schweiger. The faience ceramics works 

in Tata and the one in Buda established by Domokos 

Kuny also deserve mention. 

Towards the end of the 18 th century, stoneware, a cheaper 

type of ceramics based on an English model, appeared in 

Hungary. Typically faience manufacturers began produ - 

cing this type of ceramics first. By the middle of the 19 th 

century, several dozen stoneware works or factories had 

been set up in Hungary. This period, the Reform era in 

Hungary, saw the rise of the Hungarian middle class, the 

development of a national identity, and a ripening desire 

for autonomy. The economic expansion following the 

Napoleonic Wars awakened the progressive-minded, 

well-educated upper and middle nobility to the futility of 

the obsolete feudal system of land tenure. They recognized 

that only credit worthiness could ensure economic 

and social development and modernization. In Hungary 

feudal conditions had prevented the formation of any 

sizeable social stratum of industrialists and merchants. 

Proponents of a middle class came from impoverished 

members of the lower nobility as well as the sons of 

craftsmen, traders and peasants who had risen to the 

ranks of public officials. In the first decades of the 19 th 

century, the Hungarian Age of Reform brought significant 

changes. Between 1815 and 1846 the number of craftsmen 

and artisans tripled. Development took place 

primarily in agriculture, but the iron and textile industries 

also experienced considerable expansion. By the 

middle of the century the capital, Pest, had transformed 

into a large city of 110,000. Economic development in 

Hungary, however, was only relative, as the economic 

policies of the Habsburg Monarchy checked the growth 
















































of Hungarian industry and commerce. During this period, 

today’s world-famous Herend porcelain factory was 

founded, although it was not the first. In 1823, Ferdinánd 

Bretzenheim had founded a porcelain factory on his 

estate, Regéc, in Telkibánya, and based on Bohemian 

examples, produced tableware and decorative objects. 

His products include several particularly impressive 

pitchers and tobacco cases. 

The early years of the Herend Ceramics Works 

(1829-1839) – Vince Stingl’s factory 

Vince Stingl (1796 - after 1865) founded Herend’s first 

ceramics factory. The earliest relevant documentation 

dates to 1826. 

The Stingl family moved from Bohemia to Sopron in 

1744, where the head of the family worked as a coppersmith. 

Vince lost his parents at the early age of eleven 

and with his brother learned the art of playing-card 

painting in Pápa, and later they established their own 

factory. The most frequent type of playing cards they 

produced was the “German” type, a 32-card deck, which 

they printed with a wooden block and hand painted. This 

profitable craft was practice by many in Transdanubia. 

Rather early on, however, Stingl turned to another trade. 

In 1819 he was employed in a faience factory in Tata in 

1919, entrusted with the production of the new, cheaply 

produced stoneware. Presumably when he was allocated 

this task, he had been at the factory for several years. He 

spent six years in Tata, and during this time his brother 

Nepomuk Johann also gained employment in the same 

factory. In 1824 Vince Stingl and Mózes Áron Fischer 

jointly set up a ceramics factory. The owners, however, 

soon had a falling out, and Stingl left his fortune behind 

in Táta. In 1825 he received a significant loan from the 

parish priest of Kislôd, twelve kilometres from Herend. 

Investing this sum, Stingl founded a ceramics works at 

Herend, at the foot of the Bakony hills. The most important 

raw materials could be found in the area: sand and 

“fat earth”, that is clay, came from around Kislôd and 

Városlôd, and the firewood needed to keep the kilns 

burning came from the surrounding forests. A contemporary 

report appearing in 1837 in the entertainment 

journal Hasznos Mulatságok [Useful Entertainment] tells 

us the owner experimented with porcelain production. 

The story, whose title, “Porcelain was discovered by a 

Hungarian in Hungary” reveals both bias and ignorance, 

contains an animated report claiming that if Vince 

Stingl’s enterprise were adequately funded, he would 

be able to build a new kiln and thus produce porcelain 

of great quality. Presumably this article aroused Mór 

Fischer’s interest in Herend. At the time Fischer was the 

leaseholder of the stoneware factory in Pápa (thirty-five 

kilometres from Herend, also in Veszprém County), but 

his lease terminated in 1839. In that same year, János 

György Mayer, who also had interests in Pápa, became a 

co-lessee of the Herend ceramics factory with Stingl, and 

between autumn 1839 and the end of 1840 Mayer 

offered financial support totalling 4970 forints. With the 

factory under new leadership, Vince Stingl’s role was 

9















































representing the life of Chinese aristocracytoday it is 

kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. The gilded handle 

of the richly coloured lid of the vase s shaped like 

a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting green- and redscaled 

dragons appear amongst turquoise and green 

clouds; the back and the front panels have two larger 

paintings each representing the life of Chinese aristocracy 

haped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting 



panels have two larger paintindragons appear 

amongst turquoise and green clouds; tscaled dragons 




relegated to production manager, and in 1841 he left 

Herend, later taking up work in the Városlôd stoneware 

factory. Stingl’s activities in Herend are documented by 

only a few stoneware objects; nevertheless the factory’s 

first attempts at porcelain production can be linked with 

his name. 

The birth and success of Herend porcelain – the era 

of Mór Fischer (1839-1876) 

The Fischer family of Tata played a significant role in the 

19 th century history of Hungarian ceramics. Mózes Áron 

Fischer had established a stoneware factory with Vince 

Stingl in Tata, while his nephew, Mór Fischer was the 

true founder of the Herend Porcelain Works. The next 

generation, Mózes Áron’s two sons, Károly and Ignác, 

headed the ceramics factory first in Tata and later set one 

up in Pest in 1864. All of Mór Fischer’s children were 

connected to the Herend factory, and like the third generation, 

Jenô [Fischer] Farkasházy or Emil Fischer, were 

recognized experts in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy 

for their extensive work in the ceramics industry. 

Born in Tata, Mór Fischer (1799-1880) settled in Pápa 

at the age of twenty, marrying Maria Salzer and produ - 

cing eleven children. He was an enterprising youth, 

mentioned as a leaseholder of a manorial pub, and a 

horse and gall trader. From 1837 to 1839 he leased a 

ceramics factory in Pápa. In 1839, he was for all intents 

and purposes the owner of Vince Stingl’s ceramics factory, 

but because of his Jewish heritage, this was legally 

sanctioned only in 1840 with the passage of article XXIX, 

eliminating discrimination against Jews and allowing free 

settlement and the founding of commercial and indust rial 

enterprises. Fischer’s first records (1839) concerning the 

factory analyze its expenditures in comparison to Vince 

Stingl’s earlier expenses; in other words in that year 

Fischer had already taken over direction of Herend. Later 

Fischer declared himself the founder of the Herend factory, 

which is in a sense true, since regular production of 

porcelain was not carried out in Stingl’s time. 

Mór Fischer developed the small works into a factory, 

employing fifty-four people by 1841. The two-storey factory 

building, which now houses the Herend Porcelain 

Museum, was built in 1840-1842. 

Herend’s situation was quite unusual, because the most 

important raw material in porcelain production, kaolin, 

could only be obtained abroad for a considerable sum. 

Fischer, nevertheless, had a passion for this material. 

Early Herend porcelain is characterized by the exploration 

of possibilities. Contemporary Bohemian porcelain, 

especially the forms and decoration employed in 

pieces from Elbogen (today Loket, Czech Republic) and 

Schlaggenwald (today Horní Slavkov, Czech Republic), 

was followed faithfully, and simple functional wares using 

so-called Viennese border designs were also made at 

Herend. The production of stoneware also continued for 

the first few years. In 1841 Mór Fischer applied for a 











































the life of Chinese aristocracy panels have two larger 

paintings each representing the life of Chinese aristocracyThe 

original version of the small ornamental 

vase with a lid glittering as a jewel was made in 1856, 

and today it is kept in the Museum of Applied Arts. 

The gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase 

s shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fightinggilded 

handle of the richly coloured lid of the vase s 








and the front panels have two larger paintindragons 

appear amongst turquoise and green clouds; tscaled 

s; the back and the front panels have two larger paintings 

each representing the life of Chinese aristocracy 

certificate of royal appointment for his factory, and was 

finally granted the title “Imperial and Royal Chartered 

Porcelain Factory” at the end of the year. 

The first public display of Herend products took place at 

the first Hungarian Industrial Exhibit in 1842. Between 

25 August and 21 September there were 14,425 visitors 

to the exhibit, which displayed nearly 300 works from 

213 industrialists. A report on the exhibit compiled by 

Lajos Kossuth (who would later prove an exceptionally 

talented politician and statesman and leading figure in 

the 1848 Hungarian War for Independence) provides 

some information about the Herend objects exhibited: 

“in addition to dishes and plates appropriately decorated 

for a princely table with richly gilt and intricately painted 

borders, there were two exquisite flower holders and a 

29-inch-long, gilt fish platter, a true masterpiece for the 

serving of delicious pike from nearby Lake Balaton.” The 

account also mentions several lithophane portraits. 

Encouraged by this recognition, Fischer set about expanding 

his operations, purchasing more property and 

building a new kiln. At the end of March 1843, fire broke 

out in the factory, and arson was suspected. Despite the 

significant damage, development of the factory conti - 

nued. The next year proved a turning point in the life of 

Herend, altering the future history of the operation. The 

wife of Count Károly Esterházy, an important patron of 

the industrialist, requested additions to her Meissen 

dinner service. This represented the first serious professional 

challenge Fischer had encountered. He had to 

reproduce the fineness, the whiteness, the shining glaze 

and the superb quality of the paint, and this required a 

series of experiments. Fischer’s efforts were successful, 

and led to a surge in orders, as numerous Hungarian 

aristocrats approached him with similar requests. The 

idea of directing his attention toward the production of 

luxury articles and not medium-quality porcelain can 

thus be attributed to his customers. 

The first international show of Fischer’s products was in 

Vienna in 1845, and resulted in a commission. That year 

he had taken out a considerable loan from the Rothschild 

bank, and Károly Esterházy had agreed to guarantee it. 

With the money he mechanized the factory, developing 

it further with grinding mills. He published a detailed 

product catalogue in 1848-49 entitled “Price list of 

the Móricz Fischer Royal Chartered Herend Porcelain 

Factory.” In his listing he offers sculpturally decorated 

porcelain in Batthyányi, Károlyi, Eszterházy, Zay, and 

Csekonics patterns, and the prices of the services were 

determined by the colour, richness and gilding of the 

decorations. Fischer hoped that naming the patterns 

after important Hungarian aristocratic patrons would 

result in further orders, and he was not disappointed. 

The most valuable of the decorative pieces were two 

copies of the nearly 70-centimetre-tall decorative vases 

Water and Air, from the Meissen series The Four Elements 

created by Johann Joachim Kaendler in 1741. The 

originals were loaned to Fischer by Count Kázmér 

Batthyány. Among the toiletry pieces appearing in the 

11
















































price list under Various Implements, we find items no 

longer, or very rarely, used today, such as “soap and 

brush box”, “hair ointment jar”, “sponge case”, “ice dish”, 

“candle snuffer”, figural ink containers, paper weights, 

light deflectors, cigar ashtrays, a liquor flask in the shape 

of a book, and pipes and jars. The price list ends with a 

statement typical of Mór Fischer’s business policies: “This 

factory accepts all kinds of commissions, including replacements 

of pieces from foreign sets, and we promise 

quick and accurate service.” By the end of the 1840s, 

Herend was prepared to accept orders for copies or 

additions to old porcelain services on a regular basis. 

During the Hungarian War for Independence (1848- 

1849) the porcelain factory operated continuously. The 

crushing of the revolution and the later reprisals hampered 

the development of the middle class, but Herend’s 

earlier dominance and achievements in the market 

ensured the factory’s success even in these years. The 

eldest sons in the Fischer family had participated in the 

war for independence at Kossuth’s behest, but in the 

hope of continued recognition for his factory Fischer 

sought contacts with the court in Vienna. The owner of 

the Herend factory had realized in time that the exhibition 

of his wares, in other words, publicity – in fact as 

much publicity as possible – would increase the number 

of patrons and customers. Between 1851 and 1873 

Herend participated in every World’s Fair, and this 

twenty-two-year period can be considered the golden era 

of Herend porcelain. It was the age of historicism and the 

rise of Europe’s talented middle class, with the new 

moneyed aristocracy in search of the right environment 

to present itself. The first world’s fair in London was the 

stage for scientific, technical and artistic innovations, 

with the support of Queen Victoria and especially her 

husband, Albert. Just two years after the War for Independence, 

Hungary could not appear as an independent 

country; thus Mór Fischer, like others, successfully exhi - 

bited his goods in the space reserved for Austria. 

Fischer invested the profits of his successes in his factory, 

financing newer and newer experiments, which resulted 

in perpetual financial woes, as his porcelain factory failed 

to become a predictable source of income. Fischer’s products 

were unique, hand-crafted goods, and preparing and 

cutting the reticulated ornaments and borders required 

a lot of time. While the show in London concentrated on 

industrial innovations and technical triumphs, the 1855 

Parisian World’s Fair focused on artistry. Fisher was 

awarded a grand medal for his copies of Chinese and 

Japanese porcelain, although it should be noted that 

more than half the participants in the exhibition received 

some kind of recognition. Interestingly, Emperor Francis 

Joseph II purchased Hungarian porcelain at the exhibit 

for his mother, Archduchess Sophie. Fischer’s success 

was reported in Hungarian newspapers, and once again 

Fischer was granted a loan. At that time his factory had 

sixty employees, and one-third of them were painters. In 

1858 Fischer built a new kiln in Herend, of the type used 

in Meissen. The following years proved to be Fischer’s 

most productive, with the majority of the factory’s dated, 
















































high quality, meticulously painted porcelain wares executed 

at this time. Among these a particularly outstanding 

example is the Balatonfüred service. 

At the 1862 World’s Fair, again in London, Mór Fischer 

exhibited his huge, 90-centimetre decorative platter with 

a reticulated rim, depicting the 1741 Diet of Pozsony. 

The scene shows Maria Theresa presenting her son, 

Joseph II, to the Hungarian nobility in a call for their support, 

loyalty and acceptance of the pragmatica sanctio, 

succession to the throne along the Habsburg family’s female 

line. The Hungarian nobility stood as one beside 

the young queen. 

Following Fischer’s success at the world’s fair, the Herend 

industrialist was knighted by Francis Joseph, and was 

personally presented to the emperor at the Burg in Vienna. 

The factory prospered as it never had before. 

In 1867 the Austrian-Hungarian Compromise was 

reached, creating conditions conducive to the modernization 

and development of a middle class in Hungary. 

On 8 June 1867, Francis Joseph and his wife Elizabeth 

were crowned king and queen consort of Hungary. In that 

same year, Mór Fischer saw his social status considerably 

elevated when Francis Joseph bestowed upon him 

and his children a noble rank and granted them the distinguished 

surname Farkasházi. 

In these years Fischer prepared a report for the Chamber 

of Commerce and Industry 1 , which provides an accurate 

picture of the factory’s state at that time: 

For the processing and refinement of raw materials, we 

have one grinding mill, which drives one cylinder and 

fourteen millstones with the help of horses. Twenty potter’s 

wheels are used for working the raw material, and 

three kilns of French construction, each three storeys tall, 

are used to fire the goods. Three large and three smaller 

muffle kilns have been installed for firing colours. The 

large French-style kilns are lit once a week, and the muffle 

kilns once a day. Nine throwers, twenty-two painters, 

five clay workers, eight firers, and four men in the mill 

and the paste room, ten gold-polishing and burnishing 

women and twenty-five woodcutters and day labourers 

are employed in the factory. Work is carried on 300 days 

of the year, from seven in the morning to seven at night. 

Average weekly pay is 300 forints (in Austrian currency). 

Quartz and finer clays come from northern Hungary; the 

rest of the clay for the cases, bricks, etc. can be found at 

the factory site itself or within an hour’s distance. 

In 1867, the World’s Fair was organized in Paris in the 

Champ de Mars. Nearly ten million visitors came to view 

items displayed by more than fifty thousand exhibitors. 

Among the many attractive items, several deserve special 

mention. The Baccarat factory erected a sevenmetre-tall 

fountain of “crystal glass” while Belgium sent 

samples of rare lace, Canada wood carvings and totem 

poles, and Russia malachite plates, mosaic works, quality 

silver goods and Crimean minerals. The industry’s 

13
















































greatest novelty was Otto and Lange’s gas-fuelled engine, 

Siemens and Halske’s first dynamo, and the Siemens- 

Martin furnace. The world’s first bicycle and hydraulic lift 

were also on display there. The exhibit paid special 

attention to the importance of education and the role of 

schools in shaping the future. Hungarian exhibitors were 

awarded gold medals for five steam mills, some famous 

Hungarian wines, and Hungarian wool. The printer 

Gusztáv Emrich, porcelain-maker Mór Fischer, engineer 

István Vidács, and the Óbuda ship-building factory 

were awarded silver medals, while bronze medals went 

to piano maker Lajos Beregszászy, decorative albummaker 

Lajos K. Posner, and Ábrahám Ganz. Mór Fischer 

shipped thirty-five cases of porcelain to Paris, and 

brought only seven home. Two tears later the factory had 

a warehouse in Pest. 2 

The years following the Compromise laid the foundations 

for Vilmos Zsolnay’s ceramics factory in Pécs, which 

would soon achieve world fame for its extraordinary 

products. A similarity in the way Fischer and Zsolnay 

operated their factories was their reliance on family 

resources. Zsolnay’s later trademark even included the 

first initials of his children’s names – Zsolnay TJM (Teréz, 

Júlia and Miklós). Fischer, however, received less assistance 

from his children. His sons wanted to increase the 

profitability of the factory by expanding operations and 

production, but their attempts to obtain a loan of 

150,000 forints failed. Circumstances further deteriorated 

when the construction of the Veszprém-Herend- 

Városlôd railway line commenced and numerous skilled 

labourers were lured away from the factory by the higher 

pay. Fischer turned to the king for state support and 

commissions. The court subsequently ordered services 

for the royal palace in Buda and Gödöllô castle. On 27 

March 1872 he was granted the title of court purveyor 

and received a substantial loan from the Hungarian 

General Land Credit Company. Mór Fischer used this 

money to ensure his successful participation in the 1873 

Viennese Word’s Fair. 

Jacob von Falke, an expert in ceramics at the Museum of 

Applied Arts in Vienna, offered an accurate analysis of 

the Herend factory during the period of Mór Fischer: 

…. the Hungarian factory of Mór Fischer, with its unique 

characteristics, continues to hold its own. From the very 

beginning, before it had ever occurred to anyone else 

and when porcelain was viewed as a repository of bad 

taste, this factory strove to revive old porcelain – porcelain 

that today is a quite deservedly a favourite of every 

art connoisseur and collector. 

Mór Fischer did not confine himself to just one famous 

factory or a certain type of porcelain. He was satisfied 

with anything with a name or reputation, be it the soft 

paste porcelain of Sevres, the hard porcelains of Meissen, 

Vienna or Berlin, or the tinted porcelain of Japan or 

China, since a faithful reproduction is not just about 

colour, form and painting, but about the unique paste 

itself, whose appearance has crucial significance in the 

eyes of experts. In these respects, there are no obstacles 

















































s shaped like a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting 

or questions that the Herend factory cannot deal with. 

Fischer has never veered significantly from his goal of 

reviving old porcelain, giving no thoughts to moder ni - 

zation. Although we would not like to recommend 

his point of view as one generally accepted, nevertheless 

it is something different – a specialty of the factory 

which has brought it much fame and glory. It has become 

a defining feature, just as Wedgewood has always remained 

Wedgewood with its own characteristics in spite 

of changing times. 

But there is yet another side to Fischer. He is an art 

innovator too, a modern Palissy, delighting in setting and 

solving technical problems, and at every exhibit – just as 

now – he presents us with new puzzles to confound the 

experts. And although the solutions to these problems 

are not always of immediate artistic significance, they 

set a new far-reaching direction for this industry, just as 

the work of the great scientist and thinker, the longsuffering 

Bernard Palissy, paved the way for the entire 

modern faience industry.” 3 

The commercial hopes pinned to the World’s Fair were 

crushed by the first stock market crash in the Austro- 

Hungarian Monarchy. Between 9 May and 15 May 

1873, twelve companies went bankrupt. The country’s 

economic situation further deteriorated because of poor 

harvests, flooding along the Danube, and destabilization 

of the state budget. 

Mór Fischer’s factory was shaken, and despite the greatest 

moral recognition the factory had ever received at the 

Viennese World’s Fair, it could not survive. Fishcer was 

attacked by his own sons, who felt their father’s ambitions 

had undermined operations. Fischer eventually 

moved into his father’s house in Tata, where he ran a 

porcelain-painting workshop with a handful of em ployees 

for a couple of years before passing away on 15 Feb ruary 

1880. 

Commissioned works, items admired by famous customers, 

gifts from the factory owner himself, and copies 

of far-Eastern porcelains accumulated to form a vast 

treasury of handmade porcelain patterns during Mór 

Fischer’s era, and later resulted in further innovations, 

new forms and a wealth of decorative variations. Patterns 

which have become synonymous with Herend, such as 

Esterházy, Miramare, Waldstein, Wales, and Gödöllô to 

name a few are all products of the factory’s glory days. 

The Herend Porcelain Factory in the days after Mór 

Fischer (1876-1896) 

A half year after the Herend factory announced its bankruptcy, 

Mór Fischer’s sons, Leó, Sámuel, Géza, Vilmos, 

and Béla, in order to obtain supporters wrote a detailed 

description of Herend’s activities and history, entitled a 

Memorandum Concerning Maintenance of the Herend 

Porcelain Factory, in which they emphasized their role 

and contribution in running the operation, criticized their 

father’s leadership, and outlined their plan for renovating 

15
















































and maintaining the factory. The narrative presents the 

factory as a family enterprise from the start, but under 

the absolute direction of their father, Mór Fischer. 

Another memoir by Dr. Hugo Farkasházy, son of Géza 

Fischer, relates the activities of the seven Fischer bro - 

thers in relation to the factory. The eldest, Leó, graduated 

from the technical university in Vienna and 

represented the factory in London and Paris. Dezsô was 

involved in the financial direction of the factory, while 

Samuel represented Herend’s interests in Vienna, and 

Géza, with his technical knowledge, supervised the 

preparation of glazes and paints as well as the firing of 

the goods. The fifth brother, Zsigmond, oversaw the 

purchase of materials and records of the workers and 

their jobs. The sixth brother, Vilmos, was in charge of 

porcelain and gold painting, while the youngest brother, 

Béla, was a specialist in enamel painting and the production 

of new paint materials. 

Years of stifled anger over the factory’s 1874 bankruptcy 

came to the surface as the younger generation challen - 

ged their father, and differences in commercial interests 

among family members became clear. The aging Fischer 

brothers had many children and had invested their wives’ 

dowries in the factory. Now they were having increasing 

difficulties in living off their incomes and they wished to 

see Herend increase its profitability. After the factory was 

relieved from its bankruptcy in 1876, Samuel took over 

directorship. 

The porcelain factory continued to produce its cus tomary 

artistic hand-painted porcelain. It introduced new pro - 

ducts such as works modelled after Neo-Rococo forms 

with decoration on a cobalt-blue ground in the style of 

Sevres, and even still-lifes by François Boucher were 

readily reproduced on Herend vases. Another innovation 

was the gold-brocade surface decoration. 

Although Herend’s exhibit at the Philadelphia World’s 

Fair in 1876 was a success, the next few years proved 

difficult. The greatest struggles arose in the manufacture 

of whiteware, as suggested by the factory’s purchase of 

unpainted porcelain from Bohemia, which it painted with 

its own patterns. The Czech manufacturer’s mark was 

sanded off and replaced by Herend’s own. A report made 

in the 1880s register’s the gravity of the situation as 

it urgently “calls upon the high government to save this 

old company, a jewel of Hungarian industry.” In 1885 

Herend was nationalized and at the same time the 

Herend Porcelain Factory Corporation was established 

with the aid of Count Pál Széchenyi, the minister of agriculture, 

industry and commerce, and his state secretary. 

Hungarian aristocrats also made contributions and the 

state gave a loan amounting to 150,000 forints. Ferenc 

Hippman was called from Bohemia to run the company. 

His new methods – for example paying the porcelainpainters 

not per item but per day – brought the company 

to the brink of financial ruin again. His successor and 

compatriot, Gruss, was then followed by a well-known, 

experienced Hungarian ceramics-making expert, János 

Örley. Örley, however, wanted to introduce stone ware 


















































production in place of Herend’s traditional hand-crafted 

porcelain. These mass-produced toiletry sets, tea and 

coffee services, ornamental pitchers and vases, all decorated 

with transfer prints, could not compete even on the 

Hungarian market. 

In 1892, an attic at the Herend factory collapsed under 

the weight of the raw quartz stored there, and production 

ceased for a long period of time. Jenô Farkasházy 

Fischer, the grandson of Mór Fischer, attempted to buy 

the factory. In order to save their assets of 125,000 

forints, however, the shareholders sold Herend to the 

United Hungarian Glassware Companies instead, which 

extended the demise of the company by two years, until 

it finally shut its doors in 1896. 

The turn of the century – the era of Jenô Farkasházy 

Fischer (1896-1926) 

Occasioned by the celebrations marking the 1000 th 

anniversary of the Hungarian Conquest, intellectual and 

artistic life in Hungary burgeoned. A national decorative 

style appeared, increasing the country’s sense of national 

awareness. These national motifs were born of archaeological 

and ethnographic elements. The highly stylized 

carnation, pomegranate and tulip decorations were 

employed to create unique and valuable patterns, known 

among the repertoire of Herend designs as Motifs Hongrois. 

In 1893 Jenô Farkasházy Fischer 4 (1861-1926) offered 

to buy the company, and in 1896 he was taken up on his 

offer by the current owners who were unable to cope with 

the job. Farkasházy, who was the artistic director of the 

Ungvár Porcelain and Pottery Company at the time, 

outlined his ideas in a detailed plan for the factory. Mór 

Fischer’s grandson had studied ceramics at the Ecole des 

Beaux Arts in Paris, and later expanded on his knowledge 

in England and Germany. In his writing on art he 

examined classic figures in the field of ceramics, such as 

Bernard Palissy, 5 whom he wrote a monograph on in 

1887. His attention was drawn to this French craftsman 

perhaps because of a comment made by Jacob von Falke 

that Mór Fischer was a modern-day Palissy. In another 

important work Farkasházy explored the history of the 

della Robbia family of Florence. 6 His studies, travels and 

experience in the Ungvár factory provided him with the 

necessary grounding to head the Herend factory; and 

moreover, he had his father’s knowledge to rely on. 

In April 1897, the stoves at Herend were re-lit, and the 

factory resumed production of “classic” Herend goods. 

One of the bigger commissions was the expansion of and 

replacement of pieces from the various services be lon - 

ging to the Buda Royal Palace. Completing the 1899 

order required the cooperation of the painting workshop 

in Ungvár and the Hüllt porcelain factory in Budapest. 

By 1900, Farkasházy was already making pieces, although 

not many, conceived in the new style, Art Nouveau. 

He used special glazing techniques, such as a hot, 

17
















































poured glaze (coulé) to coat his decorative vases. Soft 

porcelain glazes also captured his interest, as did celadon 

glazes with their lustrous potential and crystal glazes. 

Using the pâte sur pâte technique he made not only 

vases but plaquettes. These works were introduced at 

the 1900 World’s Fair, which focused on Art Nouveau, 

and earned him a gold medal. Another great success 

for Hungarian ceramics in Paris was the exhibition of 

Zsolnay ceramics, painted with a special eosin glaze and 

shown alongside the best examples of French Art Nouveau 

and German Jugendstil. 

Although Farkasházy’s efforts were rewarded in Paris, 

this did not lead to a boom in business. His wide-range 

of interests – as industrialist, porcelain designer, technologist, 

collector of art and books, music and dance 

connoisseur, world traveller, socialite, and fan of good 

cigars – often distracted him from his porcelain factory, 

and he frequenly spent weeks or months away from 

Herend. In order to finance his hobbies, he even sold 

some factory equipment, but would later return to 

Herend full of new ideas. Inspired by similar Wedgewood 

designs, in 1905 he began producing small series of plaquettes 

depicting saints, rulers, artists and politicians. In 

1907 he advertised a competition in the journal Magyar 

Iparmûvészet [Hungarian Applied Arts], for designs for 

tableware for a middle-class market. Later he tried delicately 

painted accessories such as walking stick handles 

and knobs, and curtain weights, using one of the most 

popular patterns, Rothschild. At the 1911 World’s Fair in 

Turin, Farkasházy displayed earlier Herend porcelain 

pieces. 

When Farkasházy first purchased the factory the state 

gave him a twelve-year tax break; nevertheless his debts 

continued to accumulate. Later, Farkasházy became gra - 

vely ill, spending time in a sanatorium. His debilitation 

left him unable to oversee the workings of the factory and 

eventually he was forced to auction off even his personal 

belongings. During World War I he found his workers 

conscripted into the army and raw materials impossible 

to obtain; thus he had no choice but to close his doors. 

Following the First World War, the triumphant Entente 

powers and their allies redrew the map of Europe, and 

two-thirds of Hungary’s territory were annexed to the 

newly formed nation states bordering Hungary, and onethird 

of its Hungarian-speaking population also found 

itself outside the country’s borders. Hungary faced great 

hardship in the 1920s, since significant sources of raw 

materials and important markets were lost along with 

the territories. Following the war, Herend had difficulty 

resuming production. At the advice of his friends, Farkas - 

házy transformed the business into a share company in 

1923 with the substantial assistance of the Lloyd and 

Mobil banks. He retained a majority of the shares in the 

company, and continued as head and artistic director of 

the factory. The production manager was István György, 

and the managing director Dr. Gyula Gulden. Herend was 

reborn: new worker’s quarters were built, a tile stove 

works established, and an apprentice program initiated, 


















































with forty-four painters and throwers beginning their 

training in 1925. One new profile of the company was 

small display-case items, animals and especially birds, 

designed by Sándor Kelety and the younger György 

Vastagh. A particularly important sculptural work was 

Vastagh’s allegorical statue ensemble entitled First 

Cable, to commemorate the first communication cable 

link between London, Vienna, Budapest and Constantinople. 

Above the allegories of the countries rises the 

figure of News (Fama) in the form of a spirit spreading 

its wings. The Felten-Guillaume company intended the 

porcelain sets as gifts to those countries across which 

the cable stretched. The ensemble was such a success 

that seventy more sculptures were ordered by Felten- 

Guillaume. Herend also made versions in glazed porcelain 

bisque with colourful overpainting. Numerous forms 

were revived, and the selection of products was expan - 

ded with various accessories such as bon-bonnieres, 

ashtrays and cigarette snuffs. 

Herend won a gold medal at the 1926 World’s Fair in 

Philadelphia. This was Jenô Farkasházy’s final triumph. 

He died that year, and was buried next to his grandfather, 

Mór Fischer in Tata. 

Herend between the Worlds Wars (1926 - 1948) 

When Herend became a share company, Farkasházy – 

who also acted as artistic director – invited important 

figures in Hungarian cultural and scholarly life, including 

Elek Petrovics, director of the National Museum of Fine 

Arts; Henrik Marczali, professor at Péter Pázmány University, 

Károly Layer, head of the ceramics department 

and later director of the Hungarian National Museum of 

Applied Arts, and Jenô Hubay, director of the Academy 

of Music to serve on the board. They were active supporters 

of Herend’s operations, as was evidenced in the 

type of products offered. After Farkasházy’s death, István 

György was named artistic director, while the excep - 

tionally talented Dr. Gyula Gulden (1898-1971) served 

as head and commercial manager. After several years 

at Herend, Gulden clearly discerned Herend’s weaknesses, 

and devised a plan for the artistic direction of 

the company. He wrote in 1927 to one of the members 

of the governing board of the share company, Zsigmond 

Farkasházy: 

“today, almost without exception, every art factory works 

in two directions. Reproduction of old, classic models 

brings them their daily bread. At the same time, artists 

in their employment are constantly producing new 

models, which ensure artistic success for the companies. 

These new pieces are what we find on view at exhibits, 

and they are what ensure the survival of these companies’ 

reputations. (…) and also the continued interest of 

traders and collectors. Even if Herend had wanted to 

participate in the 1925 Paris World’s Fair, it would have 

been unable to, because one requirement was that 

the objects be new models, representations of today’s 

applied arts (…) Lest I should be misunderstood, I must 

19
















































emphasize that by new models I do not mean Expressionist 

or Cubist art, but beautiful, original models by 

top artists. What style the new models should take – 

classical, modern, or hyper-modern – is an entirely diffe - 

rent question, which should play a role in the selection of 

artistic adviser. 

His ideas were decisive in the future of Herend, and 

as main shareholder, he had influence in all decisions 

running the company as managing director. He kept a 

close eye on the acquirement of raw materials, the 

development of new technologies, and the instruction of 

a new generation of skilled workers. The expansion of the 

factory is clear from the rise in the number of em ployees. 

In 1923 there were fifteen workers in the factory, and in 

1938 there were 448. 

Another grandson of Mór Fischer, Emil Fischer (1863- 

1937) also contributed significantly to Herend’s success 

in the 1930s. He had graduated from the Teplice School 

of Ceramics in 1881, and made study trips to England 

and probably America too. In 1890 he founded his own 

business in Budapest; he was also involved in the trade 

of porcelain and glass, and assisted several Hungarian 

ceramics factories. In 1929 he came to work at Herend 

as technical advisers. 

In the time of Gyula Gulden and Emil Fischer, initiatives 

were made at Herend that were not typical of earlier 

methods. First of all, the factory’s products were organi - 

zed. Dishware, decorative porcelain and new sculptural 

works were supplied with code numbers. The letter codes 

used today to classify the various decorations originated 

from this period too. [The letter codes were presumably 

created from the first letter of the client and/or the 

French naming of the decoration, for example VBO – 

Victoria avec Bord en Or (Victoria pattern painted with 

a gold edge) or MHG – Motifs Hongrois (Hungarian motifs)]. 

A painter’s pattern book was prepared even for the 

traditional ornamentation used at Herend; flat or raised 

drawings of dishware with braided rims showed the exact 

proportions of the patterns. Product catalogues and 

price lists were assembled to make ordering easier, and 

a list of Herend’s old, important customers was created 

from old records to bolster Herend’s reputation. After 

personally studying the porcelain collection at the 

Museum of Applied Art, Gulden suggested reviving 

quality works from the days of Mór Fischer. Although the 

production of small sculptures had not been typical of 

Herend, the new management ordered the design and 

production of such works. Among the first statues were 

Miklós Izsó’s peasant figures, which Kata Gácser refa - 

shioned for porcelain. 

The changes that occurred in the structure of Hungarian 

society between the two World Wars affected artists 

too – hundreds of thousands of mainly well-educated 

people, public officials and university graduates, flooded 

across the borders from the annexed territories into Hungary, 

where frequently an uncertain existence awaited 

them. The numbers of artists grew and they thronged 


















































social institutions. Between 1920 and 1933, more than 

eleven societies, unions and associations were formed 

with large memberships. Artists worked under strained 

financial circumstances, and exhibited their works in 

the National Salon, private galleries and exhibit halls. 

Especially successful were the thematic shows, such as 

the exhibition of nudes at the Hall of Art (Mûcsarnok) 

which attracted 120,000 visitors. Herend purchased 

several nudes figures by Elek Lux, and the subsequent 

porce lain nudes the company produced were much 

sought after. These modest displays of the mysteries 

of the female body attracted a male audience, and 

were favourite ornaments in “gentlemen’s studies”. The 

company leadership embarked on the regular policy of 

visiting exhibits at the National Salon and the Hall of Art 

and purchasing works they considered producible in 

porcelain. The most frequently chosen works were by 

representatives of “Baroque” neo-classical academism: 

Zsigmond Kisfaludi Stróbl, Elek Lux, Ede Telcs, and 

György Vastagh the younger. The factory hired its first 

porcelain designer, István Lôrincz, in 1938. His task was 

to modernize existing models, minimize technical errors 

and instruct in sculpture production. 

The 1930s was the period in Herend’s history when the 

company’s best known sculptures, ones that would be 

produced for years, were made, including Miklós Ligeti’s 

Mme Déry, Elek Lux’s Ludas Matyi and Matyó Madonna, 

Kisfaludi’s Hussar examining his sword, and Károly Csapváry’s 

Matyó wedding. There were numerous inte resting 

entries in the 1938 design competition marking the 

900th anniversary of St Stephen’s death and the 1940 

sport’s statue competition, which resulted in several 

important additions to the Herend sculpture repertoire. 

Although small sculpture significantly increased Herend’s 

income, the majority of purchases were dinner, tea and 

coffee services and the ever more popular decorative 

porcelains. Some vase forms were re-shaped into lamp 

forms, for which Malagola Cappi designed lampshades 

embroidered with motifs based on Herend ornamentation. 

Herend was also the frequent producer of state and 

diplomatic gifts. The most important destination of 

Herend export goods in the 1930s were Switzerland, 

France, Belgium, Holland, and the United States of 

America. About thirty percent of the porcelain factory’s 

products were sold abroad. 

An exhibition commemorating one hundred years of 

Herend, based on the date of Mór Fischer’s establishment 

of the factory, was organized in 1939. More than 

600 works were put on display, including pieces from the 

Museum of Applied Arts and private collectors. Visitors 

also had an opportunity to see demonstrations of porcelain 

painting and free-hand modelling of flowers. One of 

the foremost art critics of the period, however, declared 

Herend goods “numerically too plentiful in colour and 

form”, and encouraged instead the development of individual 

character as an artistic goal. In reality, he was cri - 

ticizing the shallow, parvenu consumers with poor taste. 

21
















































During the Second World War through 1944 the factory 

managed to continue operation, although obtaining 

raw materials presented problems. In 1942, the factory 

had 750 employees. The war caused a supply deficit in 

raw iron, which led to a reduction in the production of 

wrought iron stoves, and Herend, seizing the opportunity, 

increased its production of tiles and tile stoves. In 

order to support foreign trade Gulden accepted a foreign 

service job, heading the Hungarian Consulate in Por - 

tugal. During the war, export to England, France and 

America essentially ceased, and Germany, Switzerland, 

Portugal, Italy, Slovakia and Belgium became the main 

the importers. In 1944 the factory was officially registered 

as a munitions factory, which prevented workers 

from being conscripted. 

The Nationalized Porcelain Factory (1948-1991) 

The consequences of the Second World War – the millions 

who lost their lives; the eight to nine hundred 

thousand Hungarian soldiers taken as prisoners of war, 

many never returning home; the destruction of industrial, 

agricultural, and transportation installations – had a 

paralyzing effect. National income had decreased by half 

in contrast to pre-war numbers. Foreign trade came to 

a complete halt. Hungary fell within the Soviet Union’s 

sphere of power. 

The new political system caused fundamental changes 

in the life of both the village of Herend and its porcelain 

factory. Land reform brought changes in land tenure, 

while the suspension of ethnic German’s political rights 

and later their deportation changed the face and the 

ethnic make-up of Herend. 7 

For years following the war, the factory could not obtain 

kaolin, a necessary raw material, and had to rely on its 

reserves. Its products at this time were small, artistically 

painted objects. The company was nationalized on 26 

March 1948. Gyula Gulden, Herend’s skilful managing 

director emigrated from Hungary to Switzerland that 

year and later to the United States, where he continued 

to work in porcelain manufacturing. Indicative of the 

confused state of affairs, between 1948 and 1951 the 

company had four successive directors. In the meantime 

the factory had managed to acquire high quality, preprepared 

porcelain paste from Limoges, ensuring the 

superior product customary at Herend. Modelling and 

painting was still done by hand, but preparation of the 

paste was now automated. 

The cultural policies of the new political system interfered 

in the life of the whole country and thus in the life of 

the Herend porcelain factory too. The new government 

strove to break with middle class traditions and values 

and any outward appearances of these. The leadership 

wanted cheaper Herend porcelain, affordable gift items 

in place of luxury ware, and propagandistic sculpture in 

addition to bird, fruit, flower, and fish figurines, ashtrays 

and other knickknacks. Portraits and busts of Hungarian 


















































and Soviet communist leaders were made in varying sizes 

for party offices and factory managers. The expressionist 

works, often superbly composed, popularized peasant 

unions. Mátyás Rákosi, head of the Hungarian Communist 

Party, was married to a woman of Yakut origins, 

Fenya Fodorovna Kornilova, who had studied porcelain 

at the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts, graduating 

in 1953. Some of her designs for dishes and sets were 

used at Herend. The setting up of an Artists’ House at 

the factory in the 1950s was a result of her personal influence. 

Significant investments were made in the factory 

at the time; the thrower’s workshop was expanded, a 

painting workshop was established for women (employment 

of women in the pre-war years had been unusual), 

and a new cafeteria was set up. The most characteristic 

work of the period was the more than two-meter-tall 

House of Parliament Vase, designed by Tibor Bruck in 

honour of the 115 year-old-building. The vase shows 

Imre Steindl’s eclectic building along the banks of the 

Danube, and includes the inscription: In our land all 

power belongs to the people. 

This proletarian dictatorship with its use of personality 

cults, intimidation, and false democracy led to the 1956 

uprising and war for independence, in which Hungary, 

left to her own devices, failed, and serious repercussions 

ensued. The system consolidated only in the mid-1960s, 

and the understanding of cultural direction changed. An 

ideological point of view was no longer expected of the 

artists, at least not directly. Herend became a member of 

the National Company of the Fine Ceramics Industry 

founded in 1963, and later from 1968 to 1981 of the 

Fine Ceramics Works. This huge company had absorbed 

all Hungarian ceramics companies, with the unviable 

companies feeding off the profits of the prospering ones. 

This form of operation was not beneficial to Herend, 

since it produced fifty-percent of the national porcelain 

industry’s income, while the profits were divided up in a 

peculiarly “egalitarian” way. At the same time the factory 

had regained its artistic independence. Following nationalization 

in 1949, an engineer and technician had 

run the company, and by 1963, alongside five engineers 

and ten technicians, there were also seven designers. In 

those years Herend revived its old, traditional repertoire 

of patterns, and looked to its own past for inspiration. 

Two designers, Ágoston Brand and Éva Szittya Horváth, 

excelled in 20 th century historicism; their works included 

the rococo Pompadour, the empire Joesphine, and the 

Biedermeier style Duna services. Herend Porcelain was 

run by Dr. Béla Felek from 1964 until the end of commu - 

nism. This period was primarily characterized by technical, 

technological and social development. In 1964-65 

two representatives of the new generation of skilled 

young designers, Irén Cs. Illés and László Horváth, 

arri ved at the Herend Porcelain Factory. Their modern 

services, however, did not receive adequate support in 

the factory. Horváth’s service Saturnus, which won a 

gold medal in Faenza, was later mass-produced not at 

Herend, but at the Alföld Porcelain Factory. The talented 

Emese Vásárhelyi also hoped her stunning examples 

of industrial design would gain favour, but Herend’s 

23
















































traditions did not accommodate this kind of work. Despite 

important studio work, Herend continued to earn 

its revenue from the sale of traditional Herend patterns. 

The demand for porcelain and the growth in production 

can be traced through the increasing number of emplo - 

yees. In 1948 there were approximately 300 workers, 

in 1965 more than 600, in 1970 nearly 1,000, and in 

1973, 1,203. In 1981 Herend split from the Fine Cera - 

mics Works, but it only gained the right to commercial 

autonomy in 1985, with the company council taking over 

the main management. From then on, design, decisionmaking 

and operational work were all carried out in the 

same place as production, thus all facets working in 

greater harmony. A market perspective opened many 

doors, and the state’s economic and political monopoly 

over the porcelain factory had clearly begun to waver. 

That year, the Herend Studio was formed with the participation 

of three designers, László Horváth, Zoltán 

Takács and Ákos Tamás, their energy and talent representing 

a new level in the artistic range of the porcelain 

factory. 

The new phenomenon of the 1970s, the world dominance 

of information science, linked products and markets 

throughout the world. The structure of the state and 

of labour practices within the Soviet sphere, however, 

was built on isolationism, in contradiction to the free flow 

of information and market mobility. Another phenomenon 

of the decade was the oil crisis, with the dramatic 

rise in fuel prices forcing irreversible changes within the 

Soviet realm. By the end of the 1980s the resources of 

the planned economy were exhausted, and Hungary had 

accumulated a huge national debt. The state ownership 

monopoly also dissolved, and alongside cooperative 

ownership, economic work groups appeared, which primarily 

produced articles of mass consumption; these 

small enterprises were the pioneers of a freely emerging 

market economy in the 1990s. The formation of new 

political parties or the reformation of old ones, all urging 

social change, was the first big step toward the end of 

communism and the beginning of parliamentarianism 

and multi-party democracy. 

Herend in the new millennium (1991-2008) 

The change in political systems began in Herend in the 

autumn of 1989. The factory’s reputation and strong 

financial situation made it attractive to privatization, with 

various groups of domestic and foreign investors showing 

interest. The managing body of the factory, the company 

council, declared an employee buyout the best route 

to privatization. That year the company council chose 

József Kovács, head of the commercial department of 

the factory, from several candidates to become managing 

director. The company now had at its head a man not 

only well regarded by the state leadership but also res - 

pected for his international experience and connections, 

his knowledge and professionalism, his skill in foreign 

languages, and above all his determination and consistency. 

After thorough preparations, the process of priva- 


















































tization began. In June 1992 the Herend Porcelain Share 

Company was formed as the legal successor to the He - 

rend Porcelain Factory. In the 1990s Herend experience 

development unprecedented in the Hungarian economy. 

After the employee buyout, Herend began making investments 

in the company using its own financial resour - 

ces, creating an environment befitting the sumptuous 

luxury porcelain it produced. The factory buildings were 

modernized, and the building erected by Mór Fischer 

was restored as a historical monument and a permanent 

exhibit installed with space for temporary shows. The 

group of buildings opposite the factory comprise the 

Porcelánium. Here visitors can discover the secrets of 

porcelain-making in the so-called Mini-manufactory, or 

have a meal served on real Herend dishware at the 

restaurant and café Apicius, named for the ancient 

Roman gourmet, or purchase Herend goods in Viktória, 

the factory’s porcelain shop. 

With initiatives embracing the traditions of manufactured 

porcelain, Herend found partners among the most important 

representatives of artistic porcelain in Europe. In 

April 1992 the Association of European Porcelain Manufacturers 

was formed with the participation of Vienna, 

Berlin, Herend, Ludwigsburg, Meissen and Sevres. The 

cooperating companies agreed to make their own pastes 

and whiteware, do all painting by hand, nurture the 

traditions of the applied arts, conduct training seminars 

and offer a selection of products that have art historical 

significance. 

In 1993, Imre Schrammel, a prominent figure in Hungarian 

and international ceramic art, participated in 

the work of the managing council. With his talent, his 

ready knowledge of international trends, his demanding 

personality, and his suggestive works of art, Schrammel 

had considerable influence on colleagues and students, 

serving as rector of the Hungarian Academy of Applied 

Arts [from 2001 the Hungarian University of Craft and 

Design, from 2006 the Moholy-Nagy University of Design]. 

He taught generations of students in the cera mics 

department, launching them on their careers. He is 

primarily responsible for the change in philosophy at 

Herend, based on his view that production development 

had ceased for some time. The factory’s technological 

revival and perfection paved the way for Herend to invite 

not only designers from its own studio, but also Hunga - 

rian ceramicists and sculptors to a “figure-symposium” in 

Siklós in 1995. This melding of ideas led Herend to call 

upon sculptor Miklós Melocco, ceramicist Márta Nagy 

and porcelain designer Pálma Babos to come up with 

new designs. Schrammel himself took an earlier series of 

chamotte-clay Minotaurs and refashioned it for porcelain. 

Sometimes triumphant, historicizing, sometimes 

frail and writhing, suffering from love, embracing bullheaded 

monsters, the figures are revived symbols from 

the world of human instinct. Their bodies are covered in 

typical Herend motifs, the body and paint merged as one. 

Imre Schrammel’s most mature work for Herend is his 

carnival series, his female figures in renaissance costume 

peaking out from behind flirtatious masks. For Schram- 

25















































representing the life of Chinese aristocracyion of Fo. 




representing the life of Chinese aristocracy haped like 

a Lion of Fo. Underneath it, fighting green- and redscaled 

dragons appear amongst turquoise and green 

clouds; the back and the front panels have two larger 

paintings each representing the life of Chinese aristocracy 

mel, paying tribute to the 18 th century master Kaendler, 

today considered one of the classics in European porcelain 

art, meant the greatest artistic challenge as he 

worked to produce his own version of the Plague Doctor. 

Among foreign designers, Peter Faust succeeded in creating 

entirely new forms in the world of Herend table 

services, and also his Art Nouveau decoration from the 

late 1990s is like a fresh splash of colour on the palette 

of Herend. 

Herend also met the demands of far eastern markets. 

In order to appeal to Japanese tastes, the company expanded 

its series of products with some new dishware 

types and accessories appropriate to the island country’s 

table culture. Takeo Suzuki played an important role in 

developing these products, drawing on his European 

schooling and experience to thoughtfully select those 

traditional Herend forms and patterns that would most 

successfully capture the attention of Japanese consu - 

mers. Suzuki is responsible for the re-discovery and 

re-fashioning of “Herend chinoiserie.” 

The much respected managing director, József Kovács, 

headed the company for fourteen years. During this time 

Herend not only developed into one of the first manufacturers 

of luxury porcelain, but also an economically 

stable, sustainable, world-class company with a vision 

for the future. However, the crisis of the fine ceramics 

industry, brought about in part by a saturated market 

and also by the new eating habits and lifestyles of 

the younger generation, has changed Herend’s future. 

Moreover the demand for luxury goods was affected 

by the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 for years. 

Following József Kovács’s departure as director of the 

company, Sándor Polányi briefly took over. Since Septem 

ber 2005 the Herend Porcelain Factory has been run 

by Attila Simon, a trusted colleague and former head of 

legal affairs. The last few years have been characterized 

by downsizing and more restrained management in 

keeping with market demands, although Hungarian 

porcelain artists have been involved in serious behindthe-scenes 

work. Once again, Herend stands on the threshold 

of innovation while ensuring the high standards 

of quality passionate and demanding connoisseurs of 

fine porcelain have come to expect from this Hungarian 

porcelain factory. 

Budapest 

September, 2008 


Museum of Applied Arts 

Curator of the Porcelain Collection 

Translated by Lara Strong 

This brief summary of the history of the Herend porcelain 

manufactory in based on the author’s monograph 

(Gabriella Balla: Herend Porcelain – The history of a 

Hungarian institution. Herend, 2003.) 






































gilded handle of the richly coloured lid of 

1 

Ilona Közli Ruzicska, A herendi porcelán [Herend porcelain], 

Budapest, 1938, p. 81-81. 

2 

Ágoston Kubinyi, Hazai mûiparunk érdekében [In the interest 

of the local applied arts industry], Archaeológiai Értesítô, 1869. 

5. sz., 91. p. 

3 

Jacob von Falke, Die Kunstindustrie auf der Wiener Weltausstellung 

1873, Wien, 1873 

4 

Jenô Farkasházi Fischer officially requested the change of his 

name in 1900, which was approved in 1906, after which he used 

the name Jenô Farkasházy. 

5 

Jenô Farkasházi Fischer, Palissy élete és mûvei [Palissy’s life and 

works], Budapest, 1887 

6 

Farkasházi Fischer Jenô, A Della Robbia-család: Szakasz az olasz 

Renaissance történetébôl [The Della-Robbia family: a section 

form Italian Renaissance history], Budapest, 1896 

7 

József Hudi, Herend története. Egy bakonyi község múltja és 

jelene [The history of Herend. The past and present of a Bakony 

community], Veszprém, 1998, 176. p. 

27

Notes 

Notes 

Marques 

Marks 































































































Marques estampées: 

Marques peintes: 

Marques imprimées: 

IM: Musée des arts décoratifs, Budapest 

HPMA: Musée de la porcelaine de Herend 

MAR: Musée Ariana, Genève 

HPM: Manufacture de porcelaine de Herend 

Impressed marks: 

Painted marks: 

Printed marks: 

IM: Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest 

HPMA: Herend Porcelain Museum 

MAR: Musée Ariana, Geneva 

HPM: Herend Porcelain Manufactory 

29

La période de Moritz Fischer: 

L'émergence d'une grande manufacture 

The Moritz Fischer period: 

Emergence of a great porcelain maker 

Lorsque Moritz Fischer fit l’acquisition de l’entreprise de 

Vince Stingl en 1840, la fabrication de porcelaine n’y 

était encore qu’à ses tout premiers balbutiements. En 

très peu de temps, le nouveau propriétaire mit sur pied 

une production digne de ce nom, tout en réorganisant 

l’établissement pour lui donner progressivement les 

structures d’une manufacture efficiente. Dès 1842, 

Fischer participa à la première Exposition industrielle 

hongroise tenue à Budapest, où ses produits recueilleront 

déjà un beau succès. 

Esthétiquement, les produits de Herend se situaient 

dans la mouvance des styles dominants de l’époque: 

le Biedermeier (N° 4) ou le néo-rocaille international 

(N° 1), comme on les rencontrait abondamment dans 

les répertoires des concurrents directs de Herend, la 

manufacture de Vienne ou les fabriques de Bohême, 

comme Schlaggenwald ou Elbogen. 

L’histoire de la manufacture veut qu’en 1844, l’épouse 

du comte Charles Esterházy de Galánta s’adressât à 

Fischer pour réassortir l’un de ses services en porcelaine 

de Meissen. Ce dernier relèvera le défi, pressentant tout 

le bénéfice qu’il pourrait tirer de ce genre d’opération en 

termes d’image de marque auprès de la haute aristocratie 

hongroise. Et il est de fait que de nombreuses autres 

requêtes de ce type viendront grossir les carnets de 

commande dans les années qui suivirent. L’exercice 

consistant à imiter le plus fidèlement possible les 

modèles saxons, puis ceux de Vienne ou de Sèvres, allait 

permettre à la jeune manufacture de se mesurer aux 

standards les plus élevés de la porcelaine européenne. 

Pour y réussir, Fischer ne ménagera pas ses efforts, améliorant 

sans cesse la qualité de sa pâte, de ses émaux 

et de ses ors. Avec son décor de «fleurs allemandes» 

et sa forme inspirée de Meissen (bien qu’elle soit un 

peu trapue), la soupière N° 2 témoigne des avancées 

technologiques et artistiques réalisées en l’espace de 

quelques années seulement. 

La légende veut que cette école du mimétisme – extrêmement 

formatrice pour ses collaborateurs – ait aussi 

amené Fischer à réorienter complètement sa ligne de 

production. Tout en imitant les chefs-d’œuvre de la 

porcelaine européenne du XVIII e siècle, il trouvera dans 

ces modèles illustres une inspiration sans limites pour le 

renouvellement de son propre répertoire formel et 

ornemental. Souvent même il reproduira, presque sans 

les modifier, des modèles repérés dans les répertoires 

When Moritz Fischer acquired Vince Stingl‘s factory in 

1840, porcelain manufacture in the company was still in 

its infancy. Very quickly, the new owner established a 

production line worthy of the name, at the same time 

reorganising the business in order to turn it gradually 

into an efficient manufacturing structure. As early as 

1842, Fischer took part in the first Hungarian Industrial 

Exhibition in Budapest, where his products had great 

early success. 

From an aesthetic point of view, Herend products were 

influenced by the dominant styles of the period: Biedermeier 

(No. 4) or international neo-rococo (No. 1), such 

as were to be found in abundance in the repertoires of 

Herend’s direct competitors, Vienna or the Bohemian 

factories, such as Schlaggenwald or Elbogen. 

Factory history says that in 1844, the wife of Count 

Charles Esterházy of Galánta turned to Herend in order 

to get some replacement pieces for one of her Meissen 

services. Fischer rose to the challenge, foreseeing all the 

advantages he stood to gain from this type of transaction 

in terms of the image his manufactory would acquire 

among the Hungarian nobility. And indeed many other 

requests of this kind were to swell the order books over 

the next years. The practice of imitating the Saxon 

models, and then those of Vienna or Sèvres, as faithfully 

as possible, enabled the young manufacturing company 

to calibrate its production on the highest standards 

of European porcelain. In order to do this successfully, 

Fischer spared no effort, constantly improving the 

quality of his paste, his enamels and his gilding. With its 

“German flowers” pattern and Meissen-inspired (albeit 

somewhat squat) shape, the soup tureen (No. 2) illustrates 

the technological and artistic advances made in 

the space of just a few years. 

According to legend, this learning by copying – an 

extremely formative experience for his assistants – also 

caused Fischer to refocus his production line completely. 

By imitating 18th-century European porcelain master- 

31 

1 

Vase, après 1847 

Portrait de Moritz Fischer 

haut. 25,2 cm 

Marques estampées: FM, HEREND, 847 

HPMA, inv. 63.66.1 

Vase, after 1847 

Portrait of Moritz Fischer 

Height 25,2 cm 

Impressed marks: FM, HEREND, 847 

HPMA, inv. 63.66.1 

1a 

Détail du revers du N° 1: 

Vue de la manufacture de Herend 

Detail on the reverse side of N° 1: 

View of the Herend manufactory

32 anciens des grandes manufactures historiques pour 

enrichir l’assortiment. Il ne sera certes pas le seul à 

pratiquer de la sorte en Europe, à une époque où les arts 

appliqués commençaient à suivre le courant de l’historicisme, 

lequel prônait justement un retour aux styles du 

passé. Pour la toute jeune entreprise de Herend, le fait 

de se réapproprier en quelque sorte l’histoire de la 

porcelaine était peut-être aussi une manière de légitimer 

ses ambitions dans le concert des grandes manufactures 

européennes. 

Le vase pot-pourri N° 3 s’inspire assez précisément, sous 

une forme certes quelque peu simplifiée, d’un modèle 

créé à Meissen par Johann Joachim Kändler vers 1760, 

pour une commande émanant de Frédéric II de Prusse 1 . 

Dans le cas de la jardinière N° 5, Herend copie même 

très exactement un modèle bien connu de Sèvres, la 

Cuvette Verdun, créée à Vincennes déjà, en 1754 2 . 

Le service à café de l’Ariana (N° 7) constitue une fois encore 

une référence directe aux productions de Meissen, 

même si, dans le cas présent, toute ambiguïté est levée 

au premier coup d’œil. Les formes quadrilobées de la 

cafetière, des tasses et du sucrier reprennent certes des 

formules éprouvées à Meissen dès les années 1725-30. 

Quant au décor, il rappelle évidemment les motifs réalisés 

en Saxe dans les années 1745-50 sur la base de 

gravures d’après Antoine Watteau. Mais le résultat final 

ne saurait passer pour une œuvre de Meissen, les 

artistes de Herend lui ont insufflé leur propre “marque” 

au passage. Par exemple en choisissant ce fond lie de vin 

assez sombre pour les panneaux rehaussés de bouquets 

polychromes: à Meissen les fonds colorés associés aux 

motifs Watteau étaient tenus dans des teintes plus lumineuses, 

jaune ou turquoise 3 . Pour ce qui est des 

scènes galantes, on devine aisément que les peintres 

hongrois n’ont cherché à imiter scrupuleusement ni les 

gravures françaises, ni même les modèles de Meissen. 

Pourtant ils connaissaient bien ces derniers, puisqu’ils en 

reproduisirent soigneusement certains traits récurrents: 

les personnages se détachent toujours sur un fond d’arbustes 

et de buissons, les hommes revêtent souvent l’apparence 

d’un arlequin ou d’un joueur de guitare. 

L’exécution des scènes se distingue cependant par son 

caractère naïf, relativement spontané, les postures des 

personnages sont un peu simplistes, et certaines couleurs 

surprennent par leur vivacité. A l’évidence, le propos 

n’était plus ici de produire des copies illusionnistes, 

comme dans le cas des commandes de réassortiment, 

mais bien de revisiter les modèles anciens et prestigieux 

pour leur conférer une nouvelle présence. A la marge 

de la tradition et en prenant appui sur cette dernière, 

Herend cherchait sa propre identité visuelle. 

Le cache-pot N° 6, avec sa scène de genre hongroise, 

est l’exemple d’une création qui ne fait appel à aucun modèle 

étranger, même si elle se nourrit de manière un peu 

diffuse du patrimoine de la porcelaine européenne du 

XVIII e siècle. En reprenant l’idée du fond coloré, qui pourrait 

évoquer Sèvres, ou en puisant dans le vocabulaire 

formel basique du néoclassicisme. 

pieces, he found in these illustrious originals limitless 

inspiration for the renewal of his own formal and ornamental 

repertoire. Very often in fact he would reproduce 

practically unchanged models found in the old repertoires 

of the great historical porcelain factories in order 

to enrich his assortment. He was certainly not alone in 

Europe in behaving thus, at a time when the applied arts 

were starting to follow the historicism trend, which 

advocated in fact a return to the styles of the past. For 

the very young Herend manufactory, retaking possession 

as it were of the history of porcelain may also have been 

a way of legitimising its own ambitions amidst the chorus 

of great European manufacturing houses. 

The pot-pourri vase (No. 3) is quite specifically inspired, 

though doubtless in a somewhat simplified form, by a 

model created at Meissen by Johann Joachim Kändler 

around 1760 in response to a commission from Frederick 

II of Prussia 1 . In the case of the jardinière (No. 5), Herend 

even copied very exactly a well-known Sèvres model, the 

Cuvette Verdun, already created at Vincennes in 1754 2 . 

The Ariana coffee service (No. 7) is again a reference to 

Meissen production, even if in this case any ambiguity is 

removed at first glance. The quadrilobe shapes of the 

coffee pot, cups and sugar bowl certainly use the design 

systems known at Meissen as early as 1725-30. And 

the pattern is obviously reminiscent of the motifs being 

produced in Saxony in 1745-50 based on engravings 

after Antoine Watteau. But the final result could not be 

taken for Meissen – as they worked, the Herend artists 

breathed the spirit of their own “brand“ into the product. 

For example, by choosing this rather dark wine-coloured 

ground for the panels embellished with polychrome 

bouquets: at Meissen, the coloured grounds associated 

with Watteau motifs used more luminous shades, yellow 

or turquoise 3 . As for the scènes galantes, it is easy to see 

that the Hungarian painters did not try scrupulously 

to imitate either the French engravings or even the 

Meissen models. Yet they were very familiar with these 

last, because they carefully reproduced some of their recurring 

features: the figures are always pictured against 

a background of bushes and shrubs, the men are often 

dressed as harlequin or as a guitar player. The execution 

of the scenes is distinguished however by its relatively 

spontaneous naïveté, the poses of the figures are a little 

simplistic, and certain colours surprisingly vivid. Clearly 

it was really a question here not of reproducing illu sionist 

copies, as was the case with the replenishment orders, 

but of revisiting the old, prestigious models in order 

to endow them with a new presence. In the margins of 

tradition, and using tradition as a support, Herend was 

seeking its own visual identity. 

The cache-pot (No. 6), with its Hungarian genre scene, is 

exemplary of a piece that owes nothing to any foreign 

model, even if fed somewhat diffusely by the heritage of 

European 18th century porcelain. That sustenance is in 

the idea of using the coloured ground, possibly evoking 

Sèvres, or in the use of the basic formal vocabulary of 

neoclassicism. 

Détail du N° 7: 

Service à café, 1861/62 

Scènes galantes à la manière des décors 

"à la Watteau" de Meissen. Les formes 

reprennent des modèles de Meissen 

Moritz Fischer excella non seulement en tant que chef 

d’entreprise dynamique, curieux de la concurrence, 

nourri de culture céramique, il présentait également 

des talents indéniables pour la stratégie commerciale. 

Dès les années 1850, il abandonnera la production de 

qualité courante – rehaussée de décors minimalistes: 

simples guirlandes ou autres bordures tenues en bleu 

ou en deux ou trois coloris – pour se concentrer sur le 

haut de gamme. Parfaitement conscient des limites du 

marché hongrois, il cherchera très vite à percer sur la 

scène internationale. Pour y parvenir, il usera systématiquement 

des grandes expositions internationales dont 

la série fut inaugurée à Londres en 1851. A vrai dire, sa 

manufacture sera présente dans les cinq grandes manifestations 

de ce type qui allaient se tenir pendant la 

durée de sa direction. 

L’événement londonien de 1851 se solda ainsi par un 

franc succès: toutes les pièces exposées furent vendues 

et une série de commandes put être enregistrée. La reine 

Victoria en personne jeta son dévolu sur un service orné 

de fleurs et de papillons stylisés à la manière orientale 

(N° 8). La présente théière, avec son rebord proéminent, 

n’est pas sans rapport avec des formes néo-rocaille 

que l’on rencontre couramment dans les productions 

anglaises des années 1830-40; le décor lui-même 

rappelle par son style pictural des motifs “chinois” imprimés 

et rehaussés au pinceau que l’on retrouve sur des 

Detail of N° 7: 

Coffee service, 1861/62 

Romantic scenes in the manner 

of the Watteau style on Meissen porcelain. 

The shapes after Meissen models 

Moritz Fischer excelled not only as a dynamic entrepreneur, 

keen to know what his competitors were doing and 

nourished by ceramic culture, but also because of his 

undeniable talent for commercial strategy. As early as 

the 1850s, he abandoned ordinary-average quality 

production – pieces with a simple minimalist pattern: 

garlands or other borders in blue or in two or three 

colours – in order to concentrate on top-quality porcelain. 

Perfectly aware of the limitations of the Hungarian 

market, he very quickly sought to make an international 

name for his manufactory. In order to do so, he systematically 

exploited the series of great universal exhibitions 

that began with London in 1851. In fact, Herend was to 

be represented at the five great events of this kind that 

were held during his period of control over the company. 

The London exhibition of 1851 for example was an 

out-and-out success: all the pieces shown were sold and 

a series of orders taken. Queen Victoria herself set her 

heart on a service decorated with stylised flowers and 

butterflies in the Oriental manner (No. 8). This teapot, 

with its prominent edging, is not unconnected to the 

neo-rococo forms frequently found in the English porcelain 

production of the 1830‘s-40‘s; the pattern with 

its pictorial style recalls the printed “Chinese“ motifs 

picked out with the brush that are found on English 

porcelain or china stone pieces of the same period 4 . 

In this particular case, might the Chinese manner have 

33

34 porcelaines ou faïences fines kaoliniques (China Stone) 

anglaises de la même époque 4 . Dans le cas qui nous 

intéresse, la manière chinoise aurait-elle influencé 

Herend par le truchement d’une interprétation anglaise? 

Quoi qu’il en soit, le motif qui trouva grâce aux yeux de 

Victoria sera bientôt rebaptisé du nom de l’auguste 

souveraine dans les registres de la manufacture; il demeurera 

l’un des décors les plus populaires de Herend, 

jusqu’à nos jours. La manufacture utilisera systématiquement 

les références à ses clients du Gotha comme 

argument publicitaire. Probablement au lendemain de 

l’Exposition de Londres, Fischer fera réaliser un vase à 

l’effigie du prince Albert, l’époux de Victoria (N° 9). 

Dès 1841, Fischer avait obtenu le droit de marquer ses 

produits aux armes royales et de qualifier sa manufacture 

d’établissement “agréé par Sa Majesté impériale et 

royale”. Alors que la manufacture impériale de Vienne 

avait déjà abordé son inexorable déclin, avant de fermer 

ses portes en 1864, François-Joseph I er acheta de la 

porcelaine de Herend à l’Exposition de Paris en 1855, en 

guise de cadeau de Noël pour sa mère, l’archiduchesse 

Sophie. La première grande commande officielle de la 

cour sera enregistrée en 1870. Elle portait sur plusieurs 

services à dîner, à thé et à café destinés au château royal 

de Buda, dont le grand Service d’Etat, qui comportait à 

l’origine 1650 pièces (N° 10). Le style de cet ensemble 

prestigieux reflète le goût de l’empereur pour la retenue 

et la sobriété: des formes néo-baroques très tempérées 

et un décor doré composé d’une simple bordure de 

feuilles de laurier. Le monogramme de François-Joseph 

est sommé de la Sainte couronne de Hongrie, à peine 

rehaussée de quelques touches de polychromie. 

L’empereur se servira également de la porcelaine de 

Herend pour une partie de ses cadeaux diplomatiques. Il 

est certain qu’à l’occasion la manufacture créa des 

modèles expressément à cet effet. Par exemple dans le 

cas du samovar offert par le souverain au tsar Nicolas I er 

(N° 13). Les modèles de samovar n’étaient certes pas 

légion dans les répertoires de la porcelaine traditionnelle, 

ici Herend dut se montrer novateur. Le résultat est 

pour le moins éclectique. Une sorte de collage stylistique 

où l’on retrouve des anses baroques sommées d’une 

influenced Herend by way of an English interpretation? 

Be that as it may, the motif which found favour with 

Queen Victoria was soon to be listed in the company’s 

catalogue with the name of the august sovereign; it was 

one of Herend’s most popular patterns and remains 

so even today. The manufactory systematically used 

references to its noble customers for the purposes of 

publicity. Probably just after the London exhibition, 

Fischer had a vase made with the effigy of Prince Albert, 

the husband of Queen Victoria (No. 9). 

In 1841, Fischer had obtained the right to put the royal 

coat of arms on his products and to describe his factory 

as producing porcelain “by appointment to Her Imperial 

and Royal Majesty “. At a time when the Imperial factory 

in Vienna had already begun its inexorable decline, prior 

to closing in 1864, Francis Joseph I bought some Herend 

porcelain at the Paris Exhibition in 1855 as a Christmas 

present for his mother, Archduchess Sophie. The first big 

official order from the court was recorded in 1870. It was 

for several dinner, tea and coffee services for the Royal 

Palace of Buda, including the great State Service, which 

originally comprised 1650 pieces (No. 10). The style of 

this prestigious set reflects the Emperor’s taste for 

restraint and sobriety: very toned-down neo-baroque 

shapes and gilding in the form of a simple laurel leaf 

border. The monogram of Francis Joseph is surmounted 

by the Holy Crown of Hungary, with just a little embellishment 

provided by a few polychrome touches. 

The Emperor also used Herend porcelain for some of his 

diplomatic gifts. Certainly on occasion the maker created 

models especially for that purpose. For example in the 

tête de femme, selon des modèles créés à Meissen dès 

les années 1730; un dauphin plutôt rococo et haut en 

couleurs en guise de robinet; sur la panse, des bouquets 

qui rappellent le décor Victoria, et sur le pied un motif 

floral très délié, parfaitement inédit. 

Les années comprises entre l’Exposition parisienne de 

1855 et celle de Londres en 1862 seront les plus 

marquantes dans toute la carrière de Moritz Fischer, 

celles où sa manufacture réalisa le plus grand nombre 

de produits de haute qualité, souvent datés 5 . Sous sa 

direction, Herend ne cessera de s’améliorer et de prospérer, 

malgré des problèmes financiers récurrents. A 

l’extérieur comme à l’intérieur du pays, la manufacture 

apparaissait désormais comme l’une des entreprises 

phares d’une Hongrie en quête de modernisation. Les 

mérites de Fischer seront bientôt récompensés par 

l’empereur lui-même: en 1859 il le décora de la Croix du 

Service, avant de l’anoblir en 1867. 

Parmi les chefs-d’œuvre de la période de Moritz Fischer 

figure le célèbre Service de Balatonfüred (N° 12), un tête 

à tête finement décoré de onze vues de la région du lac 

Balaton, d’après des lithographies contemporaines de 

Miklós Szerelmey (1802-1875). On y reconnaît plusieurs 

monuments remarquables de la cité de Balatonfüred, la 

péninsule de Tihany et le premier bateau à vapeur de 

Hongrie, le Kisfaludy. On retrouve les formes quadrilobées 

baroques directement dérivées de Meissen. Les 

encadrements dorés des différents tableaux reprennent 

la technique et le style des dorures les plus élaborées 

dans l’assortiment saxon des années 1735-45. L’atmosphère 

romantique qui émane des peintures miniatures 

contraste avec la préciosité baroque des ornements 

dorés. Un bel exemple de ce syncrétisme stylistique bien 

particulier qui forgera l’identité de Herend. 

(RB) 

case of the samovar offered by the sovereign to Tsar 

Nicholas I (No.13). Samovars were not of course frequent 

items in the repertoires of traditional porcelain manufacturers, 

Herend had to innovate here. The result is 

eclectic to say the least. A sort of stylistic collage in which 

we find baroque loop handles topped by a female head, 

like the Meissen models produced from 1730 on; a 

rather rococo brightly-coloured dolphin as a tap; on the 

body, bouquets reminiscent of the Victoria pattern, and 

on the foot a very finely-drawn floral motif, absolutely 

original. 

The years between the Paris Exhibition of 1855 and London 

in 1862 were to be outstanding in Moritz Fischer’s 

entire career, the ones during which his factory produced 

the largest number of high-quality pieces, often dated 5 . 

Under his direction, Herend constantly improved and 

prospered, despite recurring financial difficulties. At 

home and abroad, the manufactory now appeared as a 

flagship company in a Hungary seeking to modernise. 

Fischer’s merits were soon to be rewarded by the Emperor 

himself: in 1859 he awarded him the Gold Cross of 

Service, before raising him to the nobility in 1867. 

Among the masterpieces of the Moritz Fischer period is 

the celebrated Balatonfüred Service (No. 12), a tête à 

tête set beautifully decorated with eleven views of the 

Lake Balaton area, after contemporary lithographs by 

Miklós Szerelmey (1802-1875). Several remarkable 

monuments of the city of Balatonfüred can be recognised, 

the Tihany peninsula and the first Hungarian 

steamboat, the Kisfaludy. Once again we find the 

baroque quadrilobe shapes directly derived from Meissen. 

The gilt framing of the various pictures uses the 

technique and style of the most elaborate gildings in the 

Saxon factory assortment of 1735-45. The romantic 

atmosphere emanating from the miniatures contrasts 

with the baroque preciousness of the gilded ornaments. 

A fine example of that very particular form of stylistic 

syncretism that was to become the Herend identity. 

(RB) 

35 

Détail du N° 6: 

Cache-pot, 1862 

Scène de genre hongroise: 

musiciens et danseurs célébrant 

les vendanges 

1 

Karl Berling, Meissen China. An illustrated History, Meissen, 

1910, fig. 114, modèle BC; Ces modèles seront réactualisés à 

Meissen même dans les années 1849-50 par Ernst A. Leuteritz : 

Hermann Jedding, Meissener Porzellan des 19. und 20. 

Jahrhunderts, Munich, 1981, fig. 58 

2 

Tamara Préaud et Antoine d’Albis, La porcelaine de Vincennes, 

Paris, 1991, N° 202 

3 

Rainer Rückert, Meissener Porzellan 1710-1810, Munich, 1966, 

N° 384-389 

4 

Par exemple: Joan Jones, Minton. The First Two Hundred Years of 

Design and Production, Shrewsbury, 1993, p. 40 

5 

Gabriella Balla, Herend Porcelain. The history of a Hungarian 

institution, Herend, 2003, p. 66 

1 

Karl Berling, Meissen China. An Illustrated History, Meissen, 

1910, fig. 114, model BC; these models were updated at Meissen 

itself in 1849-50 by Ernst A. Leuteritz : Hermann Jedding, 

Meissener Porzellan des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, Munich, 

1981, fig. 58 

2 

Tamara Préaud and Antoine d’Albis, La porcelaine de Vincennes, 

Paris, 1991, N° 202 

3 

Rainer Rückert, Meissener Porzellan 1710-1810, Munich, 1966, 

N° 384-389 

4 

For example: Joan Jones, Minton. The First Two Hundred Years of 

Design and Production, Shrewsbury, 1993, p. 40 

5 

Gabriella Balla, Herend Porcelain. The history of a Hungarian 

institution, Herend, 2003, p. 66 

Detail of N° 6: 

Flowerpot holder, 1862 

Hungarian genre scene: 

musicians and dancers 

celebrating the wine harvest

36 

2 

Soupière, après 1846 

larg. 32,5 cm 

Marques estampées: FM, Herend, 846 

IM, inv. 21255a-b 

37 

Soup tureen, after 1846 

Width 32,5 cm 

Impressed marks: FM, Herend, 846 

IM, inv. 21255a-b 

3 

Vase pot-pourri, 1850 

Interprétation simplifiée d'une 

forme créée à Meissen vers 1760 

haut. 36 cm 

Marque estampée: Herend 

HPMA, inv. 63.67.1.1-2 

Potpourri vase, 1850 

Simplified version of a Meissen 

model created around 1760 

Height 36 cm 

Impressed mark: Herend 

HPMA, inv. 63.67.1.1-2 

4 

Assiette, 1842 

Scène de genre: mère et fille 

diam. 23 cm 


HPMA, inv. 92.10.1 

Plate, 1842 

Genre scene: Mother and daughter 

Diam. 23 cm 


HPMA, inv. 92.10.1

38 5 

Jardinière, 1857 

Imitation fidèle d'un modèle de 

Vincennes-Sèvres créé en 1754 

long. 35 cm 

Marques peintes: armes royales, 857 

HPMA, inv. 79.2100.1 

39 

Jardiniere, 1857 

Close imitation of a 

Vincennes-Sèvres model 

created in1754 

Length 35 cm 

Painted marks: royal coat of arms, 857 

HPMA, inv. 79.2100.1 

6 

Cache-pot, 1862 

Scène de genre hongroise: 

musiciens et danseurs célébrant 

les vendanges 

haut. 22 cm 

Marque estampée: Herend; 

marques peintes: armes royales, 1862 

HPMA, inv. 92.3.1 

Flowerpot holder, 1862 

Hungarian genre scene: 

musicians and dancers 

celebrating the wine harvest 

Height 22 cm 

Impressed mark: Herend; painted 

marks: royal coat of arms, 1862 

HPMA, inv. 92.3.1 

7 


Scènes galantes à la manière des 

décors "à la Watteau" de Meissen. 

Les formes reprennent des 

modèles de Meissen 

Long. du plateau 37 cm 


ou 862; marques estampées: Herend 

MAR, inv. AR 11901, AR 11903-6 


Romantic scenes in the manner 

of the Watteau style on Meissen 

porcelain – The shapes after 

Meissen models 

Length of tray 37 cm 


or 862; impressed marks: Herend 

MAR, inv. AR 11901, AR 11903-6

40 8 

Parties d'un service, années 1850 

Décor Victoria 

long. de la terrine 36 cm 

Marques estampées: HEREND ou Herend 

HPMA, inv. 67.1951.1.1-2; 63.518.1-2; 

63.680.1.1-2; 63.5901.1-2; 63.522.6.2.6; 

63.521.1.1-2 

41 

Parts of a service, 1850's 

Victoria pattern 

Length of tureen 36 cm 

Impressed marks: HEREND or Herend 

HPMA, inv. 67.1951.1.1-2; 63.518.1-2; 

63.680.1.1-2; 63.5901.1-2; 

63.522.6.2.6; 63.521.1.1-2 

9 

Vase, années 1850 

Portrait du prince Albert de 

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-1861), 

prince consort de la reine Victoria 

haut. 23 cm 


armes royales, Herend 

HPMA, inv. 66.82.1 

Vase, 1850's 

Portrait of prince Albert of 

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-1861), 

prince consort of Queen Victoria 

Height 23 cm 


royal coat of arms, Herend 

HPMA, inv. 66.82.1

42 10 

Parties du service d'État 

commandé pour le château de Buda, 

1870/71 et 1899/1900 

Monogramme couronné de 

François-Joseph I er (1830-1916) 

haut. de la terrine 20 cm 

Marques peintes: armes royales, dates 

IM, inv. 56.727.1; 54.1095.1; 54.1108.1; 

54.1097.1; 54.1099.1.1-2; 56.724.1.1-2 

43 

Parts of the State service 

ordered for Buda castle, 

1870/71 and 1899/1900 

Crowned monogram of 

Francis Joseph I (1830-1916) 

Height of tureen 20 cm 

Painted marks: royal coat of arms, dates 

IM, inv. 56.727.1; 54.1095.1; 54.1108.1; 

54.1097.1; 54.1099.1.1-2; 56.724.1.1-2 

11 

Reproduction en porcelaine de la 

Sainte Couronne de Hongrie, 2000 

haut. 20 cm 

HPMA, inv. 81/1/2000 

Porcelain reproduction of the Holy 

Crown of Hungary, 2000 

Height 20 cm 

HPMA, inv. 81/1/2000

44 12 

Service à café (Service de Balatonfüred), vers 1860 

Vues du lac Balaton et de quelques 

monuments de Balatonfüred et de Tihany 

long. du plateau 36,6 cm 

Marques estampées: HEREND; 

marques peintes: armes royales 

IM, inv. 52.2459.1-6 

13 

Samovar, années 1920 

Réédition tardive d'un objet offert 

par François-Joseph I er au tsar 

Nicolas I er 

haut. 53 cm 

Marque peinte: armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 63.178.1 

45 

Coffee service (the Balatonfüred Service), ca. 1860 

Views of Lake Balaton and of some landmarks in 

Balatonfüred and Tihany – The shapes and the 

gilding after Meissen models 

Length of tray 36,6 cm 

Impressed marks: HEREND; painted marks: 

royal coat of arms 

IM, inv. 52.2459.1-6 

Samovar, 1920's 

Later copy of an object presented 

by emperor Francis Joseph I 

to tzar Nicholas I 

Height 53 cm 

Painted mark: royal coat of arms 

HPMA, inv. 63.178.1

Chinoiseries 

Chinoiseries 

Parmi les nombreuses commandes de réassortiment 

honorées par la manufacture de Moritz Fischer se trouvaient 

fatalement des spécimens de porcelaine orientale, 

et plus particulièrement des exemples chinois conçus 

pour l’exportation vers l’Europe, la grande majorité 

datant apparemment de l’époque des empereurs Qing 

(1644-1912). Les peintres de Herend eurent donc l’occasion 

de s’aguerrir également dans le registre oriental, 

en copiant minutieusement les modèles qu’on leur 

fournissait. 

Dans le cas du N°19 par exemple, qui reprend fidèlement 

un décor chinois de style Imari 6 , ou dans celui du 

N° 21, où l’on distingue un couple de canards mandarins 

entouré d’une frise figurant les Huit Immortels du 

taoïsme. S’agissant du décor connu sous la dénomination 

Poissons (N° 17), la comparaison avec un modèle 

chinois d’époque Qianlong (N° 18) démontre que les 

peintres modernes prirent à un moment donné le parti 

de simplifier, d’aérer la composition originelle. Le décor 

Poissons s’est d’ailleurs maintenu dans le répertoire de 

la manufacture jusqu’à nos jours. Tout comme le décor 

Ming (N° 15), une appellation hautement fantaisiste 

puisque les modèles qui ont inspiré ce motif datent en 

réalité du règne de l’empereur Yongzheng de la dynastie 

des Qing (N°16). Dans le cas présent, on n’a visiblement 

pas copié scrupuleusement un modèle chinois bien 

précis, on a plutôt reconstitué une sorte de synthèse en 

retenant les traits récurrents caractéristiques d’une 

classe spécifique de porcelaines Famille rose produites 

sous Yongzheng, vers 1730. Les objets de ce type (la 

plupart du temps des assiettes en porcelaine “coquille 

d’œuf”) arborent en guise de motif central l’une ou 

l’autre des variantes autour d’un seul et même thème: 

une scène d’intérieur montrant un personnage féminin 

(parfois deux) en train de surveiller les jeux de deux 

enfants; autour des personnages, des pièces de 

mobilier: vases, tables et guéridons. Ces scènes sont 

systé matiquement encadrées de bordures hautement 

sophistiquées. Ici aussi, les peintres de Herend ont consi - 

dérable ment simplifié le propos, à commencer par les 

bordures. Il est fort possible – dans le cas des décors 

Ming et Poissons – qu’on ait d’abord réalisé des copies 

exactes pour des besoins de réassortiment, le processus 

de simplification n’intervenant que dans un second 

temps, après que Fischer eut décidé d’adopter tel ou tel 

motif pour l’inclure dans son propre répertoire. 

A en croire les chroniqueurs de la manufacture, le décor 

Esterházy, du nom de l’une des plus puissantes familles 

de la grande noblesse hongroise, aurait été copié pour la 

première fois d’après un spécimen chinois ramené de 

Russie par József Esterházy, de retour d’une mission 

diplomatique à Saint-Pétersbourg. Les premières réali- 

Among the many replacement orders met by Moritz Fischer‘s 

manufactory, there were inevitably some Oriental 

pieces, and more particularly Chinese porcelain intended 

for export to Europe, most of it apparently dating from 

the time of the Qing emperors (1644-1912). The Herend 

painters thus also had an opportunity to cut their teeth 

on the oriental register, painstakingly copying the models 

supplied to them. 

This is the case with No. 19 for example, which faithfully 

reproduces a Chinese Imari 6 pattern, or No. 21, where 

a pair of mandarin ducks can be seen surrounded by 

a frieze featuring the Eight Immortals of Taoism. When 

it comes to the pattern known as Poissons (No. 17), 

comparison with a Chinese model of the Qianlong period 

(No. 18) shows that the modern painters decided at 

some point to simplify, to lighten the original composition. 

The Poissons pattern has in fact been kept in the 

Herend repertoire until today. As has the Ming pattern 

(No. 15), an extremely fanciful name as the models that 

inspired these motifs date in fact from the reign of Emperor 

Yongzheng of the Qing dynasty (No. 16). In this 

particular example, clearly no specific Chinese model 

has been scrupulously copied, rather a sort of synthesis 

has been reconstituted by keeping the recurring characteristic 

features of a specific category of Famille rose 

porcelain produced in the time of Yongzheng, around 

1730. Objects of this type (mostly eggshell porcelain 

plates) have as their central motif one or other variation 

on a single theme: an indoor scene showing a female 

figure (sometimes two) supervising two children playing; 

around the figures are pieces of furniture: vases, tables 

and gueridons. These scenes are systematically framed 

by highly sophisticated borders. Once again, the Herend 

painters have considerably simplified the content, starting 

with the borders. It is quite possible – in the case of 

the Ming and Poissons patterns – that exact copies were 

first made for replacement purposes, the simplification 

process only happening in a second stage, after Fischer 

had decided to adopt one or other motif into his own 

repertoire. 

If the chroniclers of the manufactory are to be believed, 

the Esterházy pattern, named after one of the most 

powerful families of the Hungarian nobility, was first 

copied from a Chinese piece brought from Russia by 

József Esterházy, on his return from a diplomatic mission 

to Saint Petersburg. The first pieces decorated with 

the motif were a series of large vases intended for the 

Esterházy castle at Pápa. Vase No. 23 gives an idea 

of the visual effect of these imposing pieces. The shape 

is pure Herend – very successful and very much in the 

oriental spirit; whereas No. 24 simply reproduces the 

traditional Chinese double gourd shape. Translated into a 

47 

Détail du N˚ 20: 

Assiette, vers 1720 

Jingdezhen (Chine), époque Kangxi 

Décor Imari chinois 

Detail of N˚ 20: 

Plate, ca. 1720 

Jingdezhen (China), Kangxi period 

Decorated in the Chinese Imari style

48 sations ornées de ce motif furent une série de grands 

vases destinés au château des Esterházy à Pápa. L’exemple 

N° 23 donne une idée de l’effet visuel de ces imposants 

ouvrages. Sa forme est une pure création de 

Herend – fort réussie et bien dans l’esprit oriental; alors 

que celle du N° 24 reprend simplement la traditionnelle 

forme chinoise en double gourde. Décliné sur toute une 

gamme de récipients, y compris ceux qui composent les 

services de table, le décor Esterházy deviendra l’une des 

marques de fabrique de Herend. Un exemple où l’imitation 

finira par devenir plus prégnante que les modèles. 

D’une manière générale, c’est assurément dans le 

registre oriental que Herend donnera le meilleur de sa 

créativité. Le genre, par sa connotation foncièrement 

exotique, se prêtait évidemment à toutes les fantaisies, 

voire à toutes les audaces. Il n’est pas étonnant de 

constater que la grande majorité des formes et décors 

créés dans cette veine à l’époque de Moritz Fischer 

figurent encore et toujours dans l’assortiment de la 

manufacture. 

Les chinoiseries de Herend forment un petit monde haut 

en couleurs, fourmillant d’inventions et de touches 

humoristiques, comme dans le cas de ces exemples 

arborant le décor O’Sullivan – probablement du nom 

d’un client important de Fischer dans les Îles Britanniques 

(N° 25 et 26). Ce motif est typiquement une 

invention pure et simple, même si sa composition dénote 

une longue pratique des décors de la porcelaine chinoise. 

Le décor Empereur qui orne la théière N° 27 est lui 

aussi une sorte de recréation, mais les éléments qui la 

composent, de même que les coloris employés, sont tous 

empruntés à un seul et même style chinois: celui de la 

Famille rose d’époque Yongzheng. 

On notera au passage ce qui deviendra l’une des caractéristiques 

les plus originales du style de Herend: le 

“détournement plastique” des anses, des goulots et des 

boutons de couvercle pour en faire des ornements d’une 

grande fantaisie, en forme de Chinois, de dragons, de 

lapins ou de coqs. Par contre, la pratique consistant à 

fixer un groupe de petites figurines en ronde bosse sur 

le couvercle d’un récipient, comme sur le N° 30, était 

déjà connue à Arita, au Japon, vers la fin du XVII e siècle. 

Les trois Orientaux accroupis et buvant le thé qui surmontent 

le couvercle de la boîte de Herend se retrouvent 

pratiquement à l’identique (sauf qu’ici les protagonistes 

sont trois Japonaises) sur une boîte en porcelaine japonaise 

des anciennes collections royales de Dresde 7 . Véritable 

monument de la chinoiserie selon Fischer, cet 

ensemble de quatre boîtes à thé réunies sur un présentoir 

(N° 28) relève de la pure invention quant à sa forme, 

le décor étant une interprétation de motifs chinois rouge 

et or d’époque Kangxi. 

Le décor Siang rouge (N° 29 et 30), malgré la consonance 

chinoise de son nom, est une adaptation assez 

fidèle d’un décor japonais rattaché au style Kakiemon et 

apparemment réservé à une série de potiches à pans 

coupés hexagonales produites à Arita entre 1670 et 

whole range of shapes, including those in table services, 

the Esterházy pattern became a Herend trademark. An 

example of how in the end the imitation can carry more 

weight than the original. 

In general, Herend definitely proved to be most creative 

in the oriental style. The genre, because of its essentially 

exotic connotation, clearly lent itself to everything ima g- 

ination or daring could supply. It is not surprising to find 

that the vast majority of shapes and patterns created in 

this vein during the time of Moritz Fischer are still part 

of the manufactory’s assortment. 

The Herend chinoiseries form a small brightly-coloured 

universe, teeming with invention and humoristic touches, 

as in these examples in the O’Sullivan pattern – probably 

named after an important client of Fischer in the 

British Isles (Nos. 25 and 26). Typically, this motif is 

a complete invention, even if its composition indicates 

long practice in the patterns of Chinese porcelain. The 

Emperor pattern decorating the teapot (No. 27) is also 

a sort of recreation, but the elements of its composition 

and the colours are all borrowed from the same Chinese 

style: the Famille rose of the Yongzheng period. 

Incidentally, here we have one of the most original features 

of the Herend style: the “plastic distortion“ of the 

handles, necks and lid knobs so that they become 

extremely fantastic ornaments in the shape of Chinese 

figures, dragons, rabbits or cocks. On the other hand, 

the practice of fixing a group of small stand-alone figures 

on the lid of a vessel, as in No. 30, was already known in 

Arita, Japan, around the end of the 17th century. The 

three crouching oriental figures drinking tea on the 

Herend box lid are practically identical to those found on 

a Japanese porcelain box (except in that case the 

protagonists are three Japanese ladies) in the former 

Royal collections of Dresden 7 . A veritable monument of 

chinoiserie according to Fischer, this set of four tea 

caddies on a display stand (No. 28) has a shape that is 

a complete invention, the decorative pattern being an 

interpretation of the red and gold Chinese motifs of the 

Kangxi period. 

The Siang rouge pattern (Nos. 29 and 30), despite the 

Chinese-sounding name, is a fairly faithful adaptation of 

a Japanese pattern in the Kakiemon style and apparently 

reserved for a series of hexagonal jars produced in Arita 

between 1670 and 1690 8 . This motif was to become one 

of the most popular Herend patterns from the beginning 

of the 1870s, after the Court ordered a tea and coffee 

service in this style for the palace at Gödöllö, around 

thirty kilometres north-east of Budapest. Gödöllö was 

Empress Elisabeth’s favourite residence in Hungary. We 

know the affection of Empress Sissi for her Hungarian 

subjects, who returned it in full measure. At Herend, the 

Siang rouge pattern was soon renamed Gödöllö. 

The Siang noir pattern (N° 31), however, although it 

more or less reproduces a similar compositional principle 

– white panels with floral motifs against a coloured 

1690 8 . Ce motif allait devenir l’un des plus populaires 

de Herend à partir du début des années 1870, après que 

la cour eut commandé un service à thé et à café de ce 

style pour le château de Gödöllö, à une trentaine de kilomètres 

au nord-est de Budapest. Gödöllö était le lieu 

de résidence préféré de l’impératrice Elisabeth en Hongrie. 

On connaît l’affection que l’impératrice Sissi portait 

à ses sujets hongrois, qui le lui rendaient bien. A Herend, 

le décor Siang rouge fut bientôt rebaptisé en Gödöllö. 

Le décor Siang noir (N° 31), par contre, même s’il reprend 

grosso modo un principe de composition similaire 

– des panneaux blancs à motifs floraux se détachant sur 

un fond de couleur rehaussé d’autres motifs floraux 

peints en réserve – est bel et bien dérivé de modèles 

chinois: les porcelaines de style Famille rose à fond noir 

produites à Jingdezhen dans les années 1735-40 9 . 

Quant au décor Siang jaune, il constitue une véritable 

variante du Siang rouge: les motifs sont les mêmes, seul 

le fond coloré a changé de teinte. 

Un portrait photographique de Moritz Fischer daté de 

1873 montre un chef d’entreprise au faîte de sa gloire 10 ; 

dans sa main droite il tient fièrement ce qu’il devait considérer 

comme un exemple emblématique de la maîtrise 

technique et artistique qu’il avait atteinte avec sa manufacture: 

une chope à bière à double paroi ajourée, du 

même type que le N° 33. 

Les Chinois avaient produit des porcelaines à double 

paroi ajourée assez similaires dès l’époque de Kangxi 

(1662-1722), décorées dans la palette bleu et blanc. Les 

ajours formaient un treillis d’alvéoles hexagonales parsemé 

de fleurs de chrysanthèmes, elles aussi ajourées, 

mais pas systématiquement 11 . Le procédé et les motifs 

se retrouvent à Jingdezhen dans les années 1735-45, 

avec en plus un décor floral peint dans la palette de la 

Famille rose 12 . Ce sont très probablement ces versions 

plus tardives qui inspireront Herend pour la création de 

toute une série de récipients à double paroi ajourée, que 

la manufacture regroupera sous la dénomination Wales 

après que l’empereur François-Joseph eut offert des 

porcelaines de ce type au prince de Galles, le futur roi 

Edouard VII (N° 33 à 35). 

La chope N° 33 est un exemple particulièrement sophistiqué 

où les motifs ajourés prennent des formes très 

variées: non seulement des chrysanthèmes stylisés, mais 

également des svastikas bouddhiques et deux types 

différents de treillis. La forme générale du récipient n’a 

évidemment rien d’oriental, elle est née une fois encore 

de l’imagination de Fischer et de ses collaborateurs. Pour 

les autres récipients de style Wales, les motifs de la paroi 

ajourée seront sensiblement simplifiés (N° 34 et 35); il 

n’en demeure pas moins que chacun d’entre eux représente 

un vrai tour de force technique. 

Le décor Cubash, représenté ici par une forme probablement 

unique et de dimension exceptionnelle (N° 14), 

est encore une fois à mettre en relation avec certains décors 

chinois des années 1730-40, où des motifs floraux 

Détail d’un sucrier, années 1860 

décor Empereur 

Detail of a sugar bowl, 1860's 

Empereur pattern 

ground embellished with other reserve painted floral 

motifs – is definitely derived from Chinese models: porcelain 

pieces in the Famille rose style with a black ground 

produced at Jingdezhen in 1735-40 9 . As for the Siang 

jaune pattern (No. 32), it is a true variant of the Siang 

rouge: the motifs are the same, only the colour of the 

ground has changed. 

A photograph of Moritz Fischer dating from 1873 shows 

an entrepreneur at the height of his powers 10 ; in his right 

hand he proudly holds what he must have considered to 

be an emblematic example of the technical and artistic 

mastery he had achieved in his porcelain factory: a double 

wall openwork beer mug, of the same type as No.33. 

The Chinese had produced rather similar double wall 

openwork porcelain pieces as early as the Kangxi period 

(1662-1722), with a blue and white decorative pattern. 

The openwork formed a lattice of hexagonal cells 

scattered with chrysanthemum flowers that were also 

openwork, but not systematically so 11 . The technique and 

the motifs are found at Jingdezhen during the period 

1735-45, with the addition of a floral pattern painted in 

Famille rose enamels 12 . Very probably it was these later 

versions that inspired Herend to create a whole series of 

double wall openwork pieces, grouped under the name of 

Wales after Emperor Francis Joseph presented porcelain 

of this type to the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward 

VII (Nos. 33 to 35). 

49

50 

se détachent partiellement sur un réseau serré de motifs 

en spirale peints à l’émail brun 13 . Ici également, les peintres 

de Herend ont considérablement remanié l’idée 

originelle, en privilégiant largement les parties couvertes 

de spirales par rapport aux réserves à fond blanc. En 

comparaison aux modèles chinois, l’effet optique est 

pour ainsi dire inversé. Pour ce qui est de la prise du 

couvercle en forme de coq, on a simplement “recyclé”, 

pratiquement sans modification, une forme qui existait 

déjà dans le répertoire de la manufacture comme objet 

décoratif autonome: une figurine à poser sur un meuble, 

elle aussi inspirée d’un modèle oriental. Ce processus de 

“collage” un peu spontané explique probablement le fait 

que le volatile semble légèrement surdimensionné par 

rapport au vase lui-même. 

The beer mug (No. 33) is a particularly sophisticated 

example in which the openwork motifs are very varied in 

design: not only stylised chrysanthemums, but also 

Buddhist swastikas and two different types of lattice. The 

shape of the tankard is obviously not oriental at all, 

having once again sprung from the imagination of 

Fischer and his assistants. For the other containers in the 

Wales style, the openwork wall motifs were considerably 

simplified (Nos. 34 and 35); nonetheless, each of them is 

a real technical tour de force. 

The Cubash pattern, represented here by a vase shape 

that is probably unique and of exceptional size (No. 14), 

is again to be compared with certain Chinese patterns of 

1730-40, in which floral motifs partly stand out against 

a tight network of tiny scroll motifs painted in brown 

enamel 13 . Here too, the Herend painters reworked the 

original idea quite considerably, giving much greater 

emphasis to the scroll-covered areas as opposed to 

the white ground reserves. Compared with the Chinese 

originals, the optical effect is reversed so to speak. The 

lid in the form of a cock has simply been “recycled“ 

practically unchanged, because it was a shape that 

already existed in the manufactory’s repertoire as an 

independent decorative object: a figurine to be placed 

on a piece of furniture, and also inspired by an oriental 

model. This somewhat spontaneous “collage” process 

probably explains the fact that the bird seems slightly 

oversized in relation to the vase. 

14 

Vase, vers 1880 

Décor Cubash 

haut. 70 cm 

Marque estampée: HEREND 

HPMA, inv. 83.1163.1.1-2 

Vase, ca. 1880 

Cubash pattern 

Height 70 cm 

Impressed mark: HEREND 

HPMA, inv. 83.1163.1.1-2 

51 

Moritz Fischer fera une dernière apparition sur la scène 

internationale, reconnue et saluée une fois de plus, à 

l’occasion de l’Exposition de Vienne en 1873. La même 

année, une sérieuse crise financière ébranlait toute 

l’économie hongroise. Fischer tentera désespérément de 

trouver des capitaux frais pour son entreprise, sans succès. 

La faillite est prononcée en août 1874. Découragé, 

Fischer laisse Herend entre les mains de ses sept fils et 

se retire à Tata, où il dirigera un petit atelier de peinture 

sur porcelaine jusqu’à sa mort, en 1880. 

Moritz Fischer was to make one last appearance on the 

international stage, recognised and acclaimed once 

again, on the occasion of the Vienna Exhibition of 1873. 

That same year, a serious financial crisis shook the whole 

of the Hungarian economy. Fischer desperately tried to 

find new capital for his company, without success. The 

firm was declared bankrupt in August 1874. Disheartened, 

Fischer left Herend in the hands of his seven sons 

and retired to Tata, where he directed a small china 

painting workshop until his death in 1880. 

(RB) 

(RB) 

6 

En l’occurrence, Herend n’a pas seulement imité le décor, mais 

également la forme. L’auteur a retrouvé, sur le marché de l’art 

de la région genevoise, un bol chinois d’époque Kangxi en tous 

points identique au modèle hongrois 

7 

Friedrich Reichel, Porcelaines japonaises anciennes. Les Arita 

de la collection de porcelaines de Dresde, Paris, 1981, fig. 45 

8 

John Ayers, Oliver Impey, John Mallet, Porcelain for Palaces. 

The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650-1750, Londres, 1990, 

fig. 152 

9 

Michel Beurdeley et Guy Raindre, La porcelaine des Qing. 

“Famille verte” et “Famille rose” 1644-1912, Fribourg, 1986, 

fig. 185 

10 

Balla 2003, p. 288 

11 

Jorge Welsh, Linglong, Londres/Lisbonne, 2004 

12 

Thomas V. Litzenburg Jr., Chinese Export Porcelain in the Reeves 

Center Collection at Washington and Lee University, Londres, 

2003, fig. 46 

13 

Voir par exemple: John Ayers, The Chinese Porcelain Collection 

of Marie Vergottis, Lausanne, 2004, fig. 207 

6 

In this case, Herend imitated not only the pattern, but also the 

shape. The author has found on the art market in the Geneva 

area a Chinese bowl of the Kangxi period identical in every way 

to the Hungarian model 

7 

Friedrich Reichel, Porcelaines japonaises anciennes. Les Arita 

de la collection de porcelaines de Dresde, Paris, 1981, fig. 45 

8 

John Ayers, Oliver Impey, John Mallet, Porcelain for Palaces. 

The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650-1750, Londres, 1990, 

fig. 152 

9 

Michel Beurdeley et Guy Raindre, La porcelaine des Qing. 

“Famille verte” et “Famille rose” 1644-1912, Fribourg, 1986, 

fig. 185 

10 

Balla 2003, p. 288 

11 

Jorge Welsh, Linglong, London/Lisbon, 2004 

12 

Thomas V. Litzenburg Jr., Chinese Export Porcelain in the Reeves 

Center Collection at Washington and Lee University, London, 

2003, fig. 46 

13 

See for example: John Ayers, The Chinese Porcelain Collection of 

Marie Vergottis, Lausanne, 2004, fig. 207

52 

53 

15 


Manufacture de Herend 

Décor Ming 

diam. 24 cm 

Marques peintes: armes royales, MF, 865 

IM, 1497 

16 


Jingdezhen (Chine), époque Yongzheng 

Décor Famille rose 

diam. 20,7 cm 

MAR, inv. AR 2007-201 

19 

Grand bol, 1857 


diam. 19,2 cm 


IM, inv. 13727 

20 


Jingdezhen (Chine), époque Kangxi 

Décor Imari chinois 

diam. 24,5 cm 

MAR, inv. AR 7671 

Plate, 1865 

Herend manufactory 

Ming pattern 

Diam. 24 cm 

Painted marks: royal coat of arms, MF, 865 

IM, 1497 


Jingdezhen (China), Yongzheng period 

Decorated in the Famille rose style 

Diam. 20,7 cm 

MAR, inv. AR 2007-201 

Large bowl, 1857 


Diam. 19,2 cm 


IM, inv. 13727 


Jingdezhen (China), Kangxi period 

Decorated in the Chinese Imari style 

Diam. 24,5 cm 


17 



Décor Poissons 

diam. 23 cm 

Marques estampées: MF, HEREND; marques 

peintes (en noir): armes royales, 1855 

HPMA, inv. 92.7.1 

18 


Jingdezhen (Chine), 

époque Qianlong 


diam. 22 cm 


21 



diam. 22,5 cm 


IM, inv. 1441 

22 

Assiette, 1730/40 

Jingdezhen (Chine), 

époque Yongzheng ou Qianlong 


diam. 22,5 cm 


Plate, 1855 


Poissons pattern 

Diam. 23 cm 

Impressed marks: MF, HEREND; painted marks 

(in black): royal coat of arms, 1855 

HPMA, inv. 92.7.1 


Jingdezhen (China), Qianlong period 


Diam. 22 cm 




Diam. 22,5 cm 


IM, inv. 1441 

Plate, 1730/40 

Jingdezhen (China), 

Yongzheng or Qianlong period 


Diam. 22,5 cm 

MAR, inv. AR 4399

54 23 

Vase, 1870 

Décor Esterházy 

haut. 51 cm 

IM, inv. 24275 

25 


Décor O'Sullivan 

diam. 21 cm 


HPMA, inv. 66.218.1 

55 

Vase, 1870 

Esterházy pattern 

Height 51 cm 

IM, inv. 24275 


O'Sullivan pattern 

Diam. 21 cm 


HPMA, inv. 66.218.1 

24 

Vase, 1906 

Décor Esterházy 

haut. 30 cm 

Marques estampées: 

HEREND, 1899; marque peinte: 

armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 63.43.1 

26 

Salière, vers 1880 

Décor O'Sullivan 

long. 13 cm 

Marques estampées: FS, HEREND; 

marque peinte (en noir): 

armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 92.27.1 

Vase, 1906 

Esterházy pattern 

Height 30 cm 

Impressed marks: 

HEREND, 1899: painted mark: 


HPMA, inv. 63.43.1 

Saltcellar, ca. 1880 

O'Sullivan pattern 

Length 13 cm 

Impressed marks: FS, HEREND; 

painted mark (in black): 


HPMA, inv. 92.27.1

56 

28 

Quatre boîtes à thé 

sur présentoir, années 1860 

diam. 22,3 cm 


IM, inv. 14839a-i 

57 

Four tea-caddies on a stand, 1860's 

Diam. 22,3 cm 


IM, inv. 14839a-i 

27 

Théière, années 1860 

Décor Empereur 

larg. 15 cm 

Marque estampée: Herend; marque peinte: 

armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 66.630.1 

Teapot, 1860's 

Empereur pattern 

Width 15 cm 

Impressed mark: Herend; painted mark: royal 

coat of arms 

HPMA, inv. 66.630.1

58 

59 

29 

Service à thé, vers 1880 

Décor Gödöllö (ou Siang rouge) 

haut. de la théière 15,5 cm 

Marques peintes (en bleu ou en rouge): 

armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 66.351.17 

Tea service, ca. 1880 

Gödöllö (or Siang rouge) pattern 

Height of teapot 15,5 cm 

Painted marks (in blue or red): 


HPMA, inv. 66.351.17 

30 

Boîte et présentoir, vers 1850 

Décor Gödöllö (ou Siang rouge) 

haut. 12,8 cm 

Marque estampée: Herend; marques 

peintes (en rouge ou en bleu): 

armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 93.7.1-3 

Box and tray, ca. 1850 

Gödöllö (or Siang rouge) pattern 


Impressed mark: Herend; painted 

marks (in blue or red): 


HPMA, inv. 93.7.1-3

60 

32 

Sucrier et présentoir, vers 1920 

Décor Siang jaune 

haut. 14,5 cm 

Marques peintes: armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 83.951.1.1-2 

61 

Sugar bowl and tray, ca. 1920 

Siang jaune pattern 


Painted marks: royal coat of arms 

HPMA, inv. 83.951.1.1-2 

31 

Service à thé, 1870/80 

Décor Siang noir 


Marques estampées: HEREND; 

marques peintes: armes royales 

MAR, inv. AR 10066-70 

Tea service, 1870/80 

Siang noir pattern 


Impressed marks: HEREND; 

painted marks: royal coat of arms 

MAR, inv. AR 10066-70

62 33 

Chope à bière, années 1880 

Décor Wales 

haut. 30 cm 

Marque estampée: HEREND; 

marque peinte: armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 83.915.1.1-2 

35 

Théière, années 1870 

Décor Wales 

haut. 22 cm 

Marques peintes: armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 92.32.1.1-2 

63 

Beer mug, 1880's 

Wales pattern 

Height 30 cm 

Impressed mark: HEREND; 

painted mark: royal coat of arms 

HPMA, inv. 83.915.1.1-2 

Teapot, 1870's 

Wales pattern 

Height 22 cm 

Painted marks: royal coat of arms 

HPMA, inv. 92.32.1.1-2 

34 

Tasse et soucoupe, 1872 

Décor Wales 

haut. 9,5 cm 


armes royales, 1872 

MAR, inv. C 499 

Cup and saucer, 1872 

Wales pattern 

Height 9,5 cm 


royal coat of arms, 1872 

MAR, inv. C 499

Après Moritz Fischer: 

Une ère de turbulences 

The post-Moritz Fischer period: 

A turbulent era 

Les fils de Moritz Fischer, formellement élevés au rang 

d’associés au sein de l’établissement dès 1863, réunissaient 

à eux sept toutes les compétences nécessaires à 

la conduite de la manufacture. Après que la faillite eut 

été levée, en 1876, Samuel, le technicien, prit les rênes 

de l’entreprise. Jugeant que l’orientation prise par leur 

père était trop axée sur la performance artistique et pas 

assez soucieuse de rentabilité, les fils de Moritz réintroduiront 

une ligne de production de qualité courante. 

Sans grand succès: la position dominante des fabriques 

de Bohême, depuis longtemps spécialisées dans ce 

segment de marché, ne sera jamais battue en brèche. La 

situation de Herend ne cessa de se détériorer. En 1884, 

la fratrie dut se résoudre à vendre l’entreprise à l’État, 

qui la transforma en société par actions. Plusieurs directeurs 

se succéderont à la tête de l’établissement, sans 

jamais retrouver véritablement le chemin du succès. Herend 

ferma ses portes en mars 1896. La même année, 

Jenö Farkasházi Fischer (1863-1926), un petit-fils de 

Moritz, se porta acquéreur de la société. La production 

reprendra en avril de l’année suivante. 

Malgré les difficultés rencontrées, les dirigeants successifs 

de Herend ne renonceront jamais complètement aux 

produits de haut de gamme, en rééditant les modèles de 

Moritz Fischer ou en proposant de nouvelles créations, 

toujours dans la mouvance du style éclectique qui avait 

fait la réputation de la marque. Jusque dans les années 

1890, le savoir-faire de Herend fut sauvegardé, ainsi 

qu’en témoigne ce plat de dimension respectable (N°36) 

avec son marli ajouré, un motif développé à partir d’un 

modèle créé par Johann Friedrich Eberlein à Meissen, 

en 1746, pour les assiettes à dessert d’un service destiné 

au comte von Brühl 14 . 

La corbeille juchée sur son socle (N° 37) célèbre une fois 

de plus l’univers formel de la porcelaine rococo, sans 

pour autant faire référence à un modèle connu. Dans le 

cadre des recherches formelles qu’il conduisit au sein de 

la manufacture dans les années 1990, l’artiste contemporain 

Imre Schrammel détournera, non sans humour, le 

même socle rocaille pour y coucher le Minotaure et son 

amante, l’un de ses thèmes de prédilection de l’époque 

(N° 38 – voir plus loin). 

Avec le fameux Compromis de 1867, la Hongrie entra 

dans une nouvelle phase de son histoire, marquée par 

une redéfinition fondamentale de son rapport à l’empire 

habsbourgeois: ce fut l’avènement de la double monarchie 

austro-hongroise. François-Joseph I er coiffa enfin 

et solennellement la Sainte couronne de Hongrie, les 

Hongrois obtenaient leur propre gouvernement et leur 

propre parlement. Le sentiment d’identité nationale en 

sera renforcé, en même temps qu’étaient jetées, enfin, 

les bases propices à une modernisation sociale et économique 

du pays. 

Moritz Fischer’s seven sons, formally elevated to the rank 

of partners in 1863, possessed together all the requisite 

skills to run the manufactory. In May 1876 the company 

was discharged from bankruptcy. Samuel, who was the 

technical expert, took over the reins. Judging that the 

direction taken by their father had focused too much on 

artistic performance and not enough on profitability, 

Moritz’ sons reintroduced an ordinary-average quality 

production line. Not very successfully: the dominant 

position of the Bohemian factories, which had long specialised 

in that market segment, was never demolished. 

The situation at Herend went on deteriorating. In 1884, 

the brothers were forced to sell the manufactory to the 

State, which turned it into a joint stock company. Several 

managing directors succeeded each other, but none ever 

really found the way back to success. Herend closed its 

doors in March 1896. That same year, Jenö Farkasházy 

Fischer (1863-1926), a grandson of Moritz, bought the 

company. Production resumed in April the following year. 

Despite the difficulties, successive Herend leaders never 

completely abandoned the very high quality products, 

bringing out new editions of Moritz Fischer’s models or 

introducing new pieces, still influenced by the eclectic 

style that had forged the brand’s reputation. Herend’s 

specialist knowhow was maintained even into the 1890s, 

as can be seen from this respectably sized dish (No. 36) 

with its openwork edge, a motif developed from a model 

created by Johann Friedrich Eberlein at Meissen in 

1746, for the dessert plates of a service intended for 

Count von Brühl 14 . 

The basket perched on its pedestal (No. 37) is another 

celebration of the formal universe of rococo porcelain, 

but without referring to any known model. Pedestals of 

this type made their appearance at Meissen in the 

second half of the 19th century to act as supports for 

neo-rococo vases or clocks. During his design research 

work at the manufactory in the 1990s, contemporary 

artist Imre Schrammel hijacked – not without humour – 

the same rococo pedestal to be a bed for the Minotaur 

and his lover, one of his favourite themes at the time 

(No. 38 – see below). 

With the famous Compromise of 1867, Hungary entered 

a new phase in its history, marked by a fundamental 

redefinition of its relationship with the Habsburg Empire: 

this was the advent of the Dual Monarchy of Austria- 

Hungary. Francis Joseph I finally and solemnly placed the 

Holy Crown of Hungary on his head, and the Hungarians 

obtained their own government and their own parliament. 

Feelings of national identity were strengthened at 

the same time as favourable foundations were at last 

established for the social and economic modernisation 

of the country. 

65 


Corbeille sur socle, vers 1890 


Basket on a stand, ca. 1890

66 La production de Herend, à sa manière, reflètera cette 

évolution, avec ici ou là des créations qui affirment sans 

ambages leur caractère national. Comme dans le cas de 

cette aiguière monumentale en forme de gourde annulaire 

avec un disque central ajouré (N°39). Ce modèle 

inspiré des arts populaires autochtones contraste avec les 

formules convenues de l’éclectisme international, même 

si le peintre a choisi de le rehausser d’un motif d’origine 

japonaise (le décor Siang rouge en l’occurrence)! Il est vrai 

qu’au-delà de sa lointaine origine, le Siang rouge était 

devenu une part intégrante de l’identité même de Herend. 

Le plateau montrant l’empereur Joseph II (1741-1790) 

sur son lit de mort (N° 41) témoigne du fait que Herend 

n’a pas renoncé à ses ambitions, notamment dans le 

domaine pictural. Même si – à y regarder de plus près – 

le travail du peintre János Seszták n’est pas tout à fait à 

la hauteur de ces ambitions… 

Avec le décor Tupini (N° 42) – du nom de son premier 

commanditaire, un marchand italien – on retrouve l’évocation 

de l’âge d’or de la porcelaine et tout l’esprit du 

style rocaille, mais dans une formule qui ne manque ni de 

fraîcheur ni d’imagination, du moins en ce qui concerne 

les motifs peints. Les formes font écho à des prototypes 

germaniques, tandis que le plateau à bord ajouré n’est 

pas sans rappeler le Plateau losange produit à Sèvres 

dans les années 1760-70. 

Tout aussi inventif, le décor Kyoto qui rehausse le vase 

N° 43. Le galbe du récipient et la prise du couvercle en 

forme de lion Fô rappellent certes les porcelaines d’Arita 

de la fin du XVII e siècle, généralement décorées en bleu 

sous couverte ou dans la palette Imari, mais le décor 

peint est apparemment une création de Herend. 

Herend‘s production reflected these changes in its own 

way, with pieces created now and then that were unambiguously 

national in character. This is the case with this 

monumental pitcher shaped like a ring gourd with a 

central openwork disk (No. 39). This model, inspired by 

native folk-art, forms a contrast to the conventions of 

international eclecticism, even though the painter has 

chosen to embellish it with a motif of Japanese origin 

(the Siang rouge pattern in this case)! It is true that 

notwithstanding its distant origins, the Siang rouge pattern 

had become an integral part of the Herend identity. 

The tray showing Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790) on his 

deathbed (No. 41) illustrates the fact that Herend had 

not abandoned its ambitions, especially on the pictorial 

side. Even if the work of painter János Seszták – when 

looked at more closely – is not quite equal to those 

ambitions… 

With the Tupini pattern (No. 42) – named after the 

person who first commissioned it, an Italian merchant – 

we again find an evocation of the golden age of porcelain 

and the whole spirit of the rococo style, but in a 

design that lacks neither freshness nor imagination, at 

least as far as the painted motifs are concerned. The 

shapes echo German prototypes, whilst the tray with its 

openwork edging recalls in some respects the Plateau 

Losange produced at Sèvres in 1760-70. 

Equally inventive is the Kyoto pattern decorating vase 

No. 43. The curved body of the vase and the lid grip in 

the shape of a Fo lion are certainly reminiscent of Arita 

porcelain at the end of the 17th century, which was generally 

decorated in underglaze blue or in Imari colours, 

but the painted pattern is apparently a Herend creation. 

67 

Les exemples N° 44 et 45, véritables démonstrations 

de maîtrise technique avec leurs fleurs délicatement modelées 

et appliquées, renvoient de nouveau à Meissen. 

Par contre, l’idée de former une lettre au moyen des 

fleurs de porcelaine est, semble-t-il, plutôt inédite. La 

forme de la corbeille est empruntée au patrimoine de la 

grande manufacture saxonne: le prototype y fut créé par 

Kändler vers 1765-70 15 ; le modèle sera réactualisé par 

Ernst Leuteritz vers 1850. Le modèle saxon est muni de 

quatre pieds en forme de branches et d’anses obliques. 

Nos. 44 and 45, real demonstrations of technical mastery 

with their delicately modelled and applied flowers, 

are again evocative of Meissen. But the idea of forming 

a letter from porcelain flowers is apparently quite original. 

The shape of the basket is borrowed from the 

heritage of the great Saxon manufactory: the prototype 

was created there by Kändler around 1765-70 15 ; the 

model was updated by Ernst Leuteritz around 1850. The 

Saxon original has four feet in the form of branches and 

loops at oblique angles. 

36 

Plat, vers 1890 

Scène aquatique, marli ajouré 

à la manière de Meissen 

diam. 52 cm 


HPMA, inv. 66.285.1 

Le service à café N° 46 reste dans la veine éclectique, 

mais avec plus de créativité. Une combinaison inédite 

et assez subtile d’éléments stylistiques occidentaux 

(toujours le néo-rococo) et levantins (par exemple le bec 

verseur de la cafetière). 

(RB) 

The coffee service (No. 46) is still in the eclectic vein, but 

with more creativity. An original and rather subtle combination 

of (still neo-rococo) western and near-eastern 

stylistic elements (for example the spout of the coffee 

pot). 

(RB) 

Dish, ca. 1890 

Waterlife scenery with birds and fishes. 

Openwork in the manner of Meissen 

Diam. 52 cm 


HPMA, inv. 66.285.1 

14 

Le motif est connu sous la dénomination Brühlsches Allerlei: 

Ulrich Pietsch (éd.), Schwanenservice. Meissener Porzellan für 

Heinrich Graf von Brühl, Dresde, 2000, pp. 208-209; Herend 

en donnera d’ailleurs une première version très fidèlement 

imitée: Balla 2003, p. 57 

15 

Rückert 1966, N° 713 

14 The motif is known as Brühlsches Allerlei: Ulrich Pietsch (éd.), 

Schwanenservice. Meissener Porzellan für Heinrich Graf von 

Brühl, Dresden, 2000, pp. 208-209; Herend in fact produced a 

first, very faithful version: Balla 2003, p. 57 

15 

Rückert 1966, N° 713

68 

38 

Imre Schrammel (1933) 

Étude, 1995/97 

haut. 26,5 cm 

HPMA, inv. 29/1/2001 

69 


Study, 1995/97 


HPMA, inv. 29/1/2001 

37 

Corbeille sur socle, vers 1890 

haut. 24 cm 

Marque imprimée: couronne, 

HEREND dans banderole 

HPMA, inv. 66.223.1 

Basket on a stand, ca. 1890 

Height 24 cm 

Printed mark: crown, HEREND 

on a ribbon 

HPMA, inv. 66.223.1

70 39 

Verseuse en forme de gourde, 1890 

Forme dérivée de modèles 

traditionnels hongrois, décor 

Siang rouge 

haut. 37 cm 


HPMA, inv. 63.134.1 

71 

Ewer in gourd-shape, 1890 

Shape derived from traditional 

Hungarian models, 

with a Siang rouge decor 

Height 37 cm 


HPMA, inv. 63.134.1 

40 

Plat, années 1890 

Portrait d'un noble hongrois 

diam. 38 cm 



HPMA, inv. 63.191.0 

Dish, 1890's 

Portrait of a Hungarian nobleman 

Diam. 38 cm 

Printed mark: 

crown, HEREND on a ribbon 

HPMA, inv. 63.191.0 

41 

Plat, vers 1890 

L'empereur Joseph II (1741-1790) 

sur son lit de mort, peint par 

János Seszták 

diam. 40 cm 

Signé: J. Seszták Herend; marque 

peinte: armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 96.1.1 

Dish, ca. 1890 

Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790) 

on his deathbed, painted 

by János Seszták 

Diam. 40 cm 

Signed: J. Seszták Herend; painted 

mark: royal coat of arms 

HPMA, inv. 96.1.1

72 

43 

Vase, 1884 

Décor Kyoto 

haut. 60,5 cm 


marque imprimée: couronne, 


HPMA, inv. 63.59.1.1-2 

73 

Vase, 1884 

Kyoto pattern 


Impressed mark: HEREND; printed 

mark: crown, HEREND on a ribbon 

HPMA, inv. 63.59.1.1-2 

42 

Parties d'un service à dîner, 

années 1890 et 1930 

Décor Tupini 

haut. de la soupière 25 cm 

Marques imprimées: couronne, HEREND dans 

banderole; couronne, Herend, F3 

HPMA, inv. 62.826.1.1-2; 66.829.1; 66.830.1; 

66.833.7.2; 66.832.16.9; 66.834.12.12; 

66.835.10.5; 66.253.1 

Parts of a dinner service, 

1890's and 1930's 

Tupini pattern 

Height of the soup tureen 25 cm 

Printed marks: crown, HEREND on a ribbon; 

crown, Herend, F3 

HPMA, inv. 62.826.1.1-2; 66.829.1; 66.830.1; 

66.833.7.2; 66.832.16.9; 66.834.12.12; 

66.835.10.5; 66.253.1

74 44 


Monogramme et couronne 

en fleurs modelées et appliquées 

à la manière de Meissen 

diam. 25 cm 


marque peinte: armes royales 

IM, inv. 53.617.1 

75 


Monogram and decoration 

made of modelled flowers 

in the manner of Meissen 

Diam. 25 cm 


painted mark: royal coat of arms 

IM, inv. 53.617.1 

45 

Corbeille, 1905 

Forme inspirée d'un modèle 

créé à Meissen vers 1765 

long. 40 cm 


marques peintes: armes royales, 1905 

HPMA, inv. 66.220.1 

Basket, 1905 

After a model created 

in Meissen about 1765 

Length 40 cm 


painted marks: royal coat of arms, 1905 

HPMA, inv. 66.220.1 

46 

Parties d'un service à café, 

années 1880 

haut. de la cafetière 23,8 cm 



IM, inv. 54.906.1.1-2; 54.905-1; 

54.907.1.1-2; 54.588.1.1-2 

Parts of a coffee service, 1880's 

Height of the coffee pot 23,8 cm 

Printed mark: 

crown, HEREND on a ribbon 

IM, inv. 54.906.1.1-2; 54.905-1; 

54.907.1.1-2; 54.588.1.1-2

Herend au XX e siècle: 

La tentation de la modernité 

Herend in the 20th century: 

The temptation of modernity 

De tous les descendants de Moritz Fischer qui joueront 

un rôle dans l’histoire de sa manufacture, c’est probablement 

son petit-fils Jenö Farkasházy Fischer qui lui ressemblera 

le plus par la richesse de sa personnalité et par 

l’ampleur de la vision qu’il développera pour l’entreprise. 

Passionné d’histoire de la céramique, Jenö avait visité les 

plus grands musées d’Europe et publié des études sur 

les créations du potier français Bernard Palissy au XVII e 

siècle, ou encore sur les œuvres plastiques de la 

famille florentine des Della Robbia à l’époque de la 

Renaissance. Même les réalités de l’industrie céramique 

moderne ne lui étaient pas inconnues, puisque au 

moment de se porter acquéreur de Herend, il occupait la 

fonction de directeur artistique à la manufacture de 

porcelaine de Ungvár (ou Oujgorod, aujourd’hui à l’extrême 

pointe ouest de l’Ukraine). Soucieux de rétablir 

Herend dans sa grandeur passée, il s’efforcera non sans 

mal de réorganiser l’entreprise. 

Son premier objectif sera de renouer avec la qualité, en 

réactualisant d’abord les modèles éprouvés de son 

grand-père. Parfaitement informé des nouvelles tendan - 

ces internationales, il introduisit par la suite un esprit 

novateur et expérimental à Herend, dans la mouvance 

des recherches menées un peu partout en Europe par les 

artistes et par les industries qui étaient en train de 

façonner la céramique de l’Art nouveau. Des émaux de 

haute température furent mis au point, dont l’aspect 

jaspé et apparemment aléatoire transfigurait la 

porcelaine tout en restituant l’esprit des antiques grès 

japonais (N° 47 et 48). Dans le registre de la porcelaine 

décorée, Farkasházy Fischer introduisit des motifs 

floraux peints dans la manière fluide et stylisée typique 

de la veine naturaliste de l’Art nouveau, ou des décors 

animaliers en relief rehaussés d’un subtil émail céladon 

lustré (N° 49). Dans la technique dite pâte-sur-pâte 

(N° 50), le motif est peint en relief, sur un fond coloré, 

au moyen de barbotine blanche (de la porcelaine à l’état 

semi liquide). 

Grâce à ses innovations – et grâce au répertoire traditi - 

onnel qu’il aura la sagesse de perpétuer – Jenö rempor - 

tera de nouveaux succès dans les grandes expositions 

internationales, tandis que la presse hongroise saluait la 

“renaissance de Herend”. Les nombreuses absences de 

Farkasházy Fischer, en raison de ses voyages à l’étranger 

et de ses activités mondaines ou politiques à Budapest, 

l’amenèrent cependant à négliger la gestion au quotidien. 

L’activité de l’entreprise ralentit considérablement 

dès 1917. Les effets de la guerre, puis les conséquences 

du Traité de Versailles, dramatiques pour la Hongrie, 

achevèrent de conduire la manufacture au bord d’un 

nouveau précipice. En 1923, Jenö accepta de transformer 

l’établissement en société par actions. Il garda la 

Out of all Moritz Fischer’s descendants who played a 

part in the history of his porcelain manufactory, his 

grandson, Jenö Farkasházy Fischer, probably resembled 

him the most with his richly-facetted personality and the 

breadth of vision he went on to develop for the company. 

Jenö, passionate about the history of ceramics, had 

visited the greatest museums of Europe and published 

studies on the creations of the French potter Bernard 

Palissy in the 17th century, and on the plastic works 

produced by the Della Robbia family in Florence during 

the Renaissance. Even the realities of the modern 

ceramics industry were not unknown to him, because 

at the time of acquiring Herend, he held the position 

of an artistic director at the Ungvár porcelain factory 

(Uzhgorod, now at the extreme western tip of Ukraine). 

Keen to restore Herend to its former greatness, he 

endeavoured, not without difficulty, to restructure the 

company. 

His first objective was to restore the quality of the 

production, initially by updating the models tried and 

tested by his grandfather. Perfectly au fait with the latest 

international trends, he went on to bring an innovative 

and experimental spirit into Herend, in line with the 

research being done almost everywhere in Europe by the 

artists and ceramic factories who were fashioning the 

ceramics of the Art Nouveau movement. High temperature 

enamels were developed, their apparently randomly 

marbled aspect transforming the porcelain whilst recreating 

the spirit of ancient Japanese stoneware (Nos. 47 

and 48). For the decorated porcelain ranges, Farkasházy 

Fischer introduced painted floral motifs in the fluid and 

stylised manner typical of the naturalist vein of Art Nouveau, 

and animal patterns in relief embellished with a 

subtle glossy celadon enamel (No. 49). In the technique 

known as pâte-sur-pâte (No. 50), the motif is painted in 

low relief on a coloured ground, using a white porcelain 

slip (porcelain in the semi-liquid state). 

Thanks to his innovations – and thanks to the traditional 

repertoire he was wise enough to continue – Jenö met 

with renewed success in the great international exhibitions, 

whilst the Hungarian press acclaimed the “Herend 

renaissance“. The numerous absences of Farkasházy 

Fischer however, due to his trips abroad and his political 

and social activities in Budapest, caused him to neglect 

the day-to-day management of the company. Business 

slowed considerably after 1917. The effects of the war, 

followed by the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles, 

which were dramatic for Hungary, combined to take the 

manufactory to the brink once more. In 1923, Jenö 

agreed to turn it into a joint stock company. He kept half 

the shares and limited his role to that of artistic director 

until his death in 1926. 

77 



Décor en relief: lézard et 

branche de prunier. 

Émail lustré céladon 



Decorated in relief with a lizard 

and a plum branch. 

Lustred celadon glaze

78 moitié des parts sociales et limita son rôle à celui d’un 

directeur artistique, jusqu’à sa mort en 1926. 

Sous la direction de Gyula Gulden, qui deviendra aussi 

actionnaire majoritaire, la manufacture allait connaître 

une nouvelle ère de prospérité (entre 1923 et 1939, les 

effectifs grimperont de 15 à 448 employés). Pragmatique 

et clairvoyant, Gulden rationalisera les différents 

aspects de la production. Quant à l’orientation générale 

de cette dernière, il perpétua finalement, mais avec plus 

de rigueur, la politique duale de son prédécesseur: un 

répertoire classique pour assurer l’assise financière de la 

manufacture et des productions plus modernes pour 

continuer d’attirer l’attention sur la scène internationale. 

La modernité de l’époque – le style Art déco, par exemple 

– ne fera guère qu’effleurer Herend. Il est symptomatique 

que l’Exposition des arts décoratifs de Paris en 

1925 fut justement l’un des rares grands événements 

internationaux auxquels Herend ne pourra pas parti - 

ciper, par manque de ressources artistiques. L’une des 

innovations des années 1920 fut l’introduction de la 

petite statuaire dans l’assortiment de la manufacture, 

laquelle n’avait constitué qu’un phénomène pour le 

moins anecdotique par le passé. 

Les premiers sujets seront avant tout animaliers. Les 

figurines étaient confectionnées par les mêmes artisans, 

mouleurs et repareurs, qui s’occupaient des formes de 

la vaisselle. Un atelier spécifiquement conçu pour la 

statuaire ne sera aménagé qu’à partir de 1938, sous 

la supervision du sculpteur István Lörincz. Et dans un 

premier temps, les responsables de la manufacture 

se contenteront de sélectionner des œuvres d’artistes 

reconnus, réalisées en bronze ou en marbre, pour les 

transposer en porcelaine. C’est ainsi que furent conçues 

les gracieuses danseuses du sculpteur Elek Lux (N° 51), 

deux des rares exemples de style Art déco à Herend. 

La plupart des autres modèles retenus relevaient d’un 

académisme éminemment plus classique. Il n’empêche 

que la statuaire de Herend, avec ses sujets historiques 

ou folkloriques, convenus mais populaires, apportera une 

contribution non négligeable aux revenus de l’entreprise. 

Les collaborations entre la manufacture et le monde 

artistique se feront de plus en plus régulières (N° 53). 

Plus rarement dans le registre du récipient décoré. 

Quelques projets furent commandés en 1938 dans le 

cadre des festivités nationales célébrant le 900 ème anniversaire 

de la mort de saint Etienne (vers 974-1038), 

le premier roi de Hongrie (N° 52). Lors des Jeux olympiques 

de Berlin en 1936, la Hongrie s’était distinguée 

en remportant dix médailles d’or. L’événement suscitera 

un engouement populaire – et un intérêt politique – 

pour les sports de masse et de compétition, à tel point 

que le Ministère des cultes et de l’éducation organisa 

une grande exposition de sculpture sur le thème du 

sport, à Budapest en 1940. A cette occasion également, 

les responsables de Herend choisiront un certain nombre 

de sujets pour en donner des versions en réduction 

(N° 55). 

Under the direction of Gyula Gulden, who also became 

majority shareholder, the factory was to experience a 

new era of prosperity (between 1923 and 1939, staff 

levels shot up from 15 to 448 employees). Pragmatic 

and farsighted, Gulden streamlined the various aspects 

of the production system. As for his general approach to 

production, in the end he perpetuated the dual policy of 

his predecessor, but more rigorously: a classical repertoire 

in order to ensure the company’s financial solidity 

and more modern production ranges in order to continue 

to attract attention on the international stage. 

The modern styles of the period – Art Deco for example 

– barely affected Herend at all. Indeed it is telling that 

the Paris Exhibition of the Decorative Arts in 1925 

proved to be one of the few great international events at 

which Herend could not be present, due to lack of artistic 

resources. One of the innovations of the 1920s was 

the introduction of porcelain figures into the assortment 

of the porcelain factory, a form of production that in the 

past had really only been incidental. 

Initially the subjects were mainly animal. The figurines 

were made by the same craftsmen, moulders and 

repairers, who looked after the tableware shapes. A 

workshop specifically for porcelain sculptures was only 

installed in 1938, under the supervision of sculptor 

István Lörincz. And at first, the factory leaders simply 

selected works by recognised artists, in bronze or marble, 

to be transposed into porcelain. That for example is 

how the graceful dancers by sculptor Elek Lux were 

conceived (No. 51) - two of Herend’s rare examples of Art 

Deco. Most of the other models they used belonged to 

an eminently more classical academism. Nonetheless the 

conventional but popular Herend figures with their historical 

or folk subjects were to make a not insignificant 

contribution to the company’s turnover. 

Cooperation between the manufactory and the art world 

became more and more regular (No. 53). It was less frequent 

in the realm of the decorated vessel. Some designs 

were commissioned in 1938 for the national festivities 

to celebrate the 900 th anniversary of the death of St 

Stephen (around 974-1038), Hungary’s first king (No. 

52). During the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, 

Hungary had distinguished itself by winning ten gold 

medals. The event produced a great popular enthusiasm 

for – and political interest in – mass and competitive 

sports, to such an extent that the Minister for Religion 

and Public Education organised a major sculpture exhibition 

with sport as the theme in Budapest in 1940. For 

that occasion too, Herend’s managers chose a number 

of subjects that were produced in small-scale versions 

(No. 55). 

The Second World War was devastating for Hungary, as 

we know; not to mention the outcome of the conflict, 

when the country toppled under the influence of the 

Soviet Union and remained there for long decades. The 

factory survived pretty well, owing in particular to the 

upkeep of exports, to Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, 

La Seconde Guerre mondiale aura, on le sait, des effets 

dévastateurs sur la Hongrie; sans parler de l’issue du 

conflit, quand le pays bascula pour de longues décennies 

dans l’aire d’influence de l’Union soviétique. La manufac - 

ture survivra plutôt convenablement, notamment grâce 

au maintien des exportations, par exemple vers la Suisse, 

l’Allemagne, le Portugal, l’Italie ou la Belgique. Quand 

elle fut nationalisée, en 1948, son appareil de production 

était intact. Globalement, le nouveau pouvoir politique 

adopta une attitude plutôt positive à l’égard de 

Herend, qui continuera à jouer un rôle non négligeable 

dans le commerce extérieur hongrois. Par ailleurs, la 

manufacture béné ficiera en quelque sorte de la bienveillante 

protection de l’épouse du chef tout-puissant du 

Parti des travailleurs hongrois, Mátyás Rákosi. Diplômée 

de la section Por celaine de l’Ecole des arts décoratifs, elle 

fréquenta régulièrement la manufacture, où elle exercera 

ponc tu elle ment ses talents picturaux. Notamment pour 

la décoration de ce service illustrant la statue de la Liberté 

de Budapest ainsi que quelques-unes des grandes 

réalisations du Plan quinquennal de 1950-1954 (N° 58). 

La période du communisme ne fut pas des plus propices 

à l’épanouissement de la créativité. Même un sculpteur 

aussi talentueux qu’István Lörincz n’échappera pas aux 

codes esthétiques du “réalisme socialiste” le plus 

convenu, notamment quand il représente l’ouvrier et le 

paysan unis dans un effort titanesque pour construire la 

nouvelle Hongrie, selon les préceptes du parti (N° 54). 

Même les écoliers sont représentés dans des postures 

héroïques (N° 56), tandis que les soldats profitent d’un 

peu de temps libre pour se cultiver (N° 57). Dans un 

univers systématiquement imprégné de propagande, la 

porcelaine de Herend devait apporter sa contribution à 

la diffusion de l’idéologie dominante. 

Après la répression de l’insurrection nationale de 1956, 

les Soviétiques installèrent János Kádár au gouvernement. 

Dès les années 1960, le nouveau régime consentit 

à d’importants investissements pour la modernisation 

de l’économie et l’amélioration du niveau de vie des 

Hongrois. Quant à la manufacture de Herend, elle n’était 

considérée que comme une unité de production parmi 

d’autres dans le conglomérat national de l’industrie 

céramique. Elle restera néanmoins fidèle à sa ligne, en 

continuant de produire de la porcelaine de qualité, 

essentiellement peinte à la main. En termes de valeur 

marchande, Herend fournira bon an mal an la moitié 

des revenus à l’exportation de l’industrie céramique 

hongroise dans son ensemble. 

Les designers de la manufacture entreprirent surtout de 

réactualiser les formes et les décors du répertoire traditionnel. 

Arrivée à Herend au milieu des années 1960, 

Irén Illés proposera des idées plus contemporaines, 

comme en témoignent ces formes typiques de leur 

époque et qui ne seront d’ailleurs jamais produites 

(N° 59). 

(RB) 

Italy and Belgium for example. When it was nationalised 

in 1948, the factory’s production system was intact. The 

major problem was the supply of raw materials. Overall, 

the new political power adopted a rather positive 

attitude towards Herend, which continued to play a not 

insignificant role in Hungarian foreign trade. In addition, 

the company benefited so to speak from the benevolent 

protection of the wife of the all-powerful leader of the 

Hungarian Workers Party, Mátyás Rákosi. A graduate of 

the Porcelain Department of the College of Decorative 

Arts, she regularly visited the factory, where from time 

to time she exercised her pictorial talents. In particular, 

the decorative pattern on this service illustrating the 

Budapest Statue of Liberty and some of the great 

achievements of the 1950-1954 Five-Year Plan (No. 58). 

The Communist period was not the most auspicious for 

the flowering of creativity. Even as talented a sculptor as 

István Lörincz did not escape the aesthetic codes of a 

very conventional “socialist realism“, particularly when 

he showed the worker and the farmer united in a titanic 

effort to build the new Hungary, according to party 

precepts (No. 54). Even the schoolchildren are shown in 

heroic poses (No. 56), whilst soldiers take advantage of 

a little free time to improve themselves (No. 57). In a 

universe systematically steeped in propaganda, Herend 

porcelain had to make its own contribution to the 

dissemination of the dominant ideology. 

After the national uprising of 1956 was put down, the 

Soviets installed János Kádár in power. In the 1960s, the 

new government approved big investment programmes 

to modernise the economy and improve the standard of 

living of Hungarians. As for the Herend porcelain factory, 

it was considered simply one of a number of production 

units in the national ceramic industry conglomerate. 

Nevertheless, it kept to its line, continuing to produce 

high-quality, still hand-painted, porcelain. In terms of 

market value, Herend supplied half the export revenues 

of the whole of the Hungarian ceramics industry year in 

year out. 

Herend’s designers undertook above all to update the 

designs and patterns of the traditional repertoire. Arri - 

ving at Herend in the mid-1960s, Irén Illés put forward 

more contemporary ideas, as illustrated by these designs 

that are typical of their time and in fact were never to be 

produced (No. 59). 

(RB) 

79

80 

49 


Décor de branches de vigne 

en pâte-sur-pâte 

haut. 26 cm 

Marque en relief: armes royales, 

HEREND, 1900 

HPMA, inv. 63.37/1.2 

81 


Vine motif in pâte-sur-pâte 

technique 

Height 26 cm 

Impressed marks: royal coat of arms, 

HEREND, 1900 

HPMA, inv. 63.37/1.2 

47 

Vase, 1900/06 

Émaux expérimentaux 

haut. 23,2 cm 


HPMA, inv. 63.29.2 

Vase, 1900/06 

Experimental glazes 



HPMA, inv. 63.29.2 

48 

Vase, 1900/06 

Émaux expérimentaux 

haut. 22 cm 

HPMA, inv. 62.33.1 

Vase, 1900/06 

Experimental glazes 

Height 22 cm 

HPMA, inv. 62.33.1 

50 


Décor en relief: lézard 

et branche de prunier. 

Émail lustré céladon 

haut. 22,3 cm 

Marque estampée: HEREND; marque 

peinte: armes royales 

HPMA, inv. 62.28/1.1 


Decorated in relief with a lizard 

and a plum branch. 

Lustred celadon glaze 


Impressed mark: HEREND; painted 

mark: royal coat of arms 

HPMA, inv. 62.28/1.1

82 

52 

Assiette commémorative, 1938 

Modèle créé à l'occasion du 900e 

anniversaire de la mort de saint Etienne, 

premier roi de Hongrie, d'après 

un projet de Piroska Richter 

diam. 19,3 cm 

Marque estampée: HEREND; marque imprimée: 

HANDPAINTED, armes royales, HEREND 

HUNGARY 

IM, inv. 54.1359.1 

83 

Commemorative plate, 1938 

Edited to celebrate the 900th anniversary 

of the death of St Stephen, the first king 

of Hungary – Designed by Piroska Richter 

Diam. 19,3 cm 

Impressed mark: HEREND; printed mark: 

HANDPAINTED, royal coat of arms, 

HEREND HUNGARY 

IM, inv. 54.1359.1 

51 

Elek Lux (1884-1941) 

Danseuses, 1940 et 1936 

haut. 21,6 et 27 cm 

Marques estampées: armes royales, HEREND 

HPMA, inv. 69/1/2000, 68/1/2000 

53 

Lívia Kuzmik (1898-1984) 

Danseuse, 1940 

haut. 30 cm 

N° de modèle gravé: 5742 

HPMA, inv. 95.63.1 

Elek Lux (1884-1941) 

Dancing girls, 1940 and 1936 

Heights 21,6 et 27 cm 

Impressed marks: royal coat of arms, HEREND 

HPMA, inv. 69/1/2000, 68/1/2000 

Lívia Kuzmik (1898-1984) 

Dancing girl, 1940 

Height 30 cm 

Incised model-Nr: 5742 

HPMA, inv. 95.63.1

84 54 

István Lörincz (1901-1985) 

Paysan et ouvrier, années 1950 

haut. 24 cm 

N° de modèle gravé: 5821 

HPMA, inv. 49/1/2002 

István Lörincz (1901-1985) 

The Farmer and the Factory 

Worker, 1950's 

Height 24 cm 

Incised model-Nr: 5821 

HPMA, inv. 49/1/2002 

56 

Klára Weisz (1906-1997) 

Écoliers socialistes, 1955 

haut. maximale 26 cm 

Marques imprimées: HEREND, 

HUNGARY, HP, armoiries hongroises, 

HANDPAINTED; 

marque peinte: Klein, 1955 

HPMA, inv. 96.61.1; 95.60.1 

Klára Weisz (1906-1997) 

Socialist Pupils, 1955 

Max. height 26 cm 

Printed marks: HEREND HUNGARY, 

HP, Hungarian arms, paintbrushes; 

painted mark: 

Klein, 1955 

HPMA, inv. 96.61.1; 95.60.1 

85 

55 

Sándor Ambrózy (1903-1992) 

Skieuse, 1947 

haut. 30 cm 

Marque imprimée: HP, deux pinceaux, 1839 

HPMA, inv. 95/1348/1 

Sándor Ambrózy (1903-1992) 

Skier, 1947 

Height 30 cm 

Printed mark: HP, two paintbrushes, 1839 

HPMA, inv. 95/1348/1 

57 

Soldats lisant, années 1950 

long. 26 cm 

Marque imprimée: HEREND, 

HUNGARY, HP, armoiries hongroises, 

HANDPAINTED 

HPMA, inv. 95.43.1 

Reading soldiers, 1950's 

Length 26 cm 

Printed mark: HEREND 

HUNGARY, HP, Hungarian arms, 

paintbrushes, HANDPAINTED 

HPMA, inv. 95.43.1

86 58 

Parties d'un service à thé, 1955 

Décor célébrant les réalisations 

du Plan quinquennal, peint par Maria, 

l'épouse de Mátyás Rákosi, chef 

du Parti communiste 


Signé: R Marie; marques estampées: HEREND 

IM, inv. 56.1564.1-4 

87 

Parts of a tea service, 1955 

Decoration illustrating major fulfillments 

of the Five-Year Plan, painted 

by Maria, the wife of Mátyás Rakósi, 

the leader of the Communist Party 


Signed: R Marie; impressed marks: HEREND 

IM, inv. 56.1564.1-4 

59 

Irén Illés (1934) 

Cafetière et sucrier, années 1960 

Prototypes 

haut. de la cafetière 28 cm 

HPMA, inv. 94.150.15 

Irén Illés (1934) 

Coffee pot and sugar bowl, 1960's 

Prototypes 

Height of coffee pot 28 cm 

HPMA, inv. 94.150.15

Herend au tournant du millénaire 

Herend at the turn of the millennium 

A partir de 1981 la manufacture de Herend fut autorisée 

à prendre ses distances du conglomérat de l’industrie 

céramique pour accéder à une plus grande autonomie, 

que ce soit dans sa gestion interne ou dans le développement 

de ses marchés à l’exportation. En 1985, le 

ministère compétent délégua son autorité de contrôle 

sur la manufacture à un Conseil d’entreprise composé 

de membres de la direction et de représentants des 

employés. 

A la même époque Herend se dota d’un nouveau département 

artistique, le Herend Studio, animé à l’époque 

par László Horváth, Zoltán Takács et Ákos Tamás. Les 

artistes avaient la possibilité de poursuivre leurs recherches 

personnelles dans l’atelier, puis de collaborer 

avec la manufacture pour la production des modèles 

retenus. Les membres du Studio pouvaient aussi être 

appelés à améliorer ou modifier certaines formes du 

répertoire traditionnel de la manufacture, Ákos Tamás 

occupe cette fonction encore aujourd’hui (N° 64). 

Le système communiste sera définitivement enterré le 

23 octobre 1989, avec la proclamation solennelle de la 

République. A Herend, les effets de ce bouleversement 

historique ne tarderont pas à se faire sentir: la situation 

économique de l’entreprise était bonne, sa réputation 

internationale n’était plus à faire et plusieurs groupes 

d’investisseurs étaient intéressés par une éventuelle 

privatisation. Le Conseil d’entreprise s’engagea avec 

succès pour une formule qui réserverait l’accès aux parts 

sociales aux collaborateurs de la manufacture. Depuis 

1993, Herend est une société par actions dans laquelle 

la majorité des parts est détenue par les employés – 

actifs ou retraités – de l’entreprise, l’État détenant 30% 

des actions. 

Les contacts entre la manufacture et les créateurs 

indépendants se développèrent de façon spectaculaire 

dans les années 1990. En 1995, Herend organisa un 

symposium qui réunira ses propres designers et de nombreux 

artistes hongrois, céramistes ou sculpteurs. Dès 

l’année suivante, le céramiste de réputation mondiale 

Imre Schrammel conduira au sein de la manufacture des 

recherches plastiques qui allaient laisser des traces 

durables dans la production de Herend. Reprenant l’un 

de ses thèmes de prédilection à l’époque, les tendres 

amours du Minotaure (N° 66), il le transposa en porcelaine, 

d’abord dans des esquisses très libres et spontanées 

(N° 65), puis dans des versions décorées (N° 67) – 

en collaboration avec les peintres de la maison – l’idée 

étant d’aboutir à des modèles aptes à être produits en 

série et susceptibles de s’intégrer dans l’assortiment. Un 

autre thème développé par Schrammel aura pour sujet 

From 1981, the Herend manufactory was authorised to 

distance itself from the ceramic industry conglomerate 

in order to acquire greater autonomy, from the point 

of view of both its internal management and the 

deve lopment of its export markets. In 1985, the relevant 

Ministry delegated its authority over the factory to 

an Enterprise Council composed of members of the 

management and representatives of the employees. 

At the same time, Herend acquired a new artistic department, 

the Herend Studio, led at that time by László 

Horváth, Zoltán Takács and Ákos Tamás. The artists were 

able to pursue their own research in the studio and then 

co-operate with the manufactory in the production of the 

models chosen. The members of the Studio could also 

be called on to improve or change certain shapes in the 

factory’s traditional repertoire; Ákos Tamás still has this 

function today (No. 64). 

The Communist system was definitively buried on 23 

October 1989, when the Republic was solemnly proclaimed. 

At Herend, the effects of this huge historic 

change were soon felt: the company’s financial situation 

was good, its international reputation was made and 

several groups of investors were interested in a possible 

privatisation. The Enterprise Council successfully promoted 

an arrangement under which access to company 

shares would be reserved for factory employees. Since 

1993, Herend has been a joint stock company in which 

the majority of the shares is held by the (working or 

retired) employees of the company, the State holding 

30% of the shares. 

Contacts between the manufactory and independent 

artists developed spectacularly during the 1990s. In 

1995, Herend organised a symposium that brought 

together its own designers and numerous Hungarian 

artists, ceramicists and sculptors. The year after, the 

world-renowned ceramicist Imre Schrammel did some 

sculptural research at the factory that was to leave its 

mark on the Herend production. Reprising one of his 

preferred themes at that time, the love affairs of the 

Minotaur (No. 66), he translated it into porcelain, first 

in very free and spontaneous sketches (No. 65), then 

in decorated versions (No. 67) – in cooperation with 

the factory’s painters – the idea being to come up with 

models that could be produced and integrated into the 

assortment. Another theme developed by Schrammel 

was the characters in the carnival of Venice. He created 

several figures in this range that today are part of the 

repertoire, in the traditional Herend decorative patterns 

such as Siang rouge or Siang noir. Particularly spectacular 

are his large scale carnival figures (No. 69). 

89 



Les amants, 1989 

Terre cuite enfumée 



The Lovers, 1989 

Raku-fired clay

90 les personnages du carnaval de Venise. Il créera dans ce 

registre plusieurs statuettes qui figurent aujourd’hui dans 

la production courante, revêtus des décors traditionnels 

de Herend, comme les motifs Siang rouge ou Siang noir. 

Particulièrement spectaculaires, ses figures de carnaval 

de grande dimension (N° 69). 

Dans le domaine du récipient également, les artistes 

extérieurs à la manufacture lui ont insufflé une fantaisie 

nouvelle (N° 61). Souvent les créateurs jouent avec des 

détails qui font partie intégrante de l’identité visuelle 

de Herend, comme les anses et les prises figuratives 

évoquées plus haut. Par exemple quand Márta Nagy 

assied un petit Chinois dans le style typique de Herend 

au sommet d’une boîte (N°62), ou quand Miklós Melocco 

prolonge les anses de ses récipients par des mains 

sensuelles et légèrement impertinentes (N°60). 

Les responsables de la manufacture s’efforcent ainsi – et 

c’est heureux – de préserver un contact suivi avec le 

monde des créateurs contemporains, tout en perpétuant 

le répertoire classique, avec ici ou là des réajustements 

stylistiques plus ou moins prononcés des formes ou des 

décors. Ils restent ainsi fidèles à la politique duale de 

leurs prédécesseurs qui se basait sur une production 

“traditionnelle“, laquelle fournissait pour ainsi dire le 

“socle commercial” de l’entreprise, doublée d’une ouverture 

vers la modernité. Or la réalité commerciale de 

Herend en ce début de XXI e siècle n’a pas beaucoup 

varié. La ligne classique du répertoire assure bon an mal 

an quelque 80% des ventes, le solde se répartissant à 

parts égales entre les nouveaux modèles créés par des 

artistes contemporains et les commandes spéciales. 

C’est ainsi que les pièces de service de la ligne Victoria 

(N° 8) comptent encore et toujours parmi les modèles 

les plus populaires, avec les décors Rothschild (motifs 

rocaille à fond d’écailles, oiseaux perchés et papillons) et 

Apponyi (“fleurs des Indes” monochromes à la manière 

de Meissen). 

And the vessels too were inspired with a new fanciful 

spirit by new artists from outside the manufactory (No. 

61). Frequently the invited artists play with details that 

are an integral part of Herend‘s visual identity, such as 

the figurative loop handles and knobs mentioned earlier. 

For example, when Márta Nagy sets a little Chinese 

figure in the typical Herend style on the top of a box 

(No. 62), or when Miklós Melocco playfully extends the 

loop handles of his vessels to form sensual and slightly 

impertinent hands (N° 60). 

So the managers of the porcelain company endeavour – 

fortunately – to keep in close touch with the modern 

creative world, at the same time maintaining the classical 

repertoire with, here and there, adjustments in the 

style of the shapes and patterns to a greater or lesser 

degree. They thus remain faithful to the dual policy of 

their predecessors with their basic “traditional“ production, 

which constituted the “commercial bedrock“ of the 

business, as it were, backed up by openness to modernity. 

In fact, Herend’s commercial reality in this early 

21st century is not much different. The classical line of 

the repertoire accounts for about 80% of sales year in 

year out, the balance being divided equally between the 

new models created by contemporary artists and special 

commissions. The pieces in the Victoria tableware line 

(No. 8) for example are still even now one of the most 

popular styles, along with the Rothschild (rocaille motifs 

with a scale-pattern ground, perching birds and butterflies) 

and Apponyi (monochrome “Indian flowers“ in the 

Meissen manner) patterns. 

Herend’s basic clientele remains, now as ever, devotedly 

attached to the traditional image of the factory, as – 

essentially – defined by Moritz Fischer. The current 

managers also remain just as attached to the bias 

evinced by the founder from the 1860s onwards towards 

a concentration on upmarket activities for the company. 

Herend’s position is still, and perhaps even more consistently 

than in the past, in the luxury manufactured 

goods market. It is the only way to ensure the long-term 

survival and economic viability of its business culture. 

Indeed, its manufacturing methods have remained practically 

unaltered since the mid-19th century. They can 

even be said – if the preparation of the raw materials is 

disregarded – to be close to the methods originally used 

in the porcelain factories of the 18 th century. Even now, 

any pattern on a piece of Herend china, be it the tiniest 


Miklós Melocco (1935) 

Service à thé, 1999 



Tea service, 1999 

La clientèle de base de Herend, aujourd’hui comme hier, 

reste indéfectiblement attachée à l’image traditionnelle 

de la manufacture, telle qu’elle fut définie – pour l’essen - 

tiel – par Moritz Fischer. Les responsables actuels restent 

tout aussi attachés au parti pris adopté par le fondateur 

dès les années 1860 et qui tendait à concentrer les acti 

vi tés de la manufacture sur le haut de gamme. Herend 

se positionne toujours, et peut-être de manière encore 

plus conséquente que par le passé, dans le segment de 

marché réservé aux produits manufacturés de luxe. C’est 

la seule manière d’assurer et la pérennité et la viabilité 

économique de sa culture d’entreprise. En effet, ses méthodes 

de fabrication n’ont pour ainsi dire pas varié depuis 

le milieu du XIX e siècle. On peut même les rapprocher 

– si on fait abstraction de la prépa ration des matières 

premières – des méthodes originellement appliquées 

dans les manufactures du XVIII e siècle. Aujourd’hui 

encore, le moindre décor posé sur une porcelaine de 

Herend, même le motif le plus minimaliste, est peint à la 

main. Sur les 950 employés de l’entreprise en 2008, 

quelque 450 sont actifs dans les ateliers de peinture. 

Il est évident que cette manière de travailler confère aux 

produits de Herend des qualités visuelles et tactiles bien 

particulières. Des qualités que la clientèle de la manufac - 

ture recherche visiblement, en corrélation avec des formes 

et des décors qui évoquent pour elle des références culturelles 

liées à l’âge d’or de la porcelaine et à un certain 

art de vivre. Le fait que Herend ait choisi de rester une 

manufacture, au sens premier du terme, lui a aussi permis 

de perpétuer un savoir-faire qui est de plus en plus 

apprécié, notamment pour l’exécution de commandes 

spéciales, d’après des projets fournis par le client luimême 

ou développés à la manufacture en concertation 

avec lui. Des pièces uniques ou produites en très petites 

séries destinées à des particuliers ou à des commanditaires 

illustres. Comme le firent jadis les manufactures 

historiques du XVIII e siècle, ces manufactures que Moritz 

Fischer s’était appliqué à égaler avec tant de ferveur. 

motif, is hand-painted. Of the 950 people employed by 

the company in 2008, some 450 work in the painting 

studios. 

It is clear that this way of working endows Herend pro - 

ducts with quite special visual and tactile qualities. These 

qualities are clearly sought after by the company’s clientele, 

being closely correlated with designs and patterns 

that conjure up for customers the cultural references of 

the golden age of porcelain and a certain art of living. The 

fact that Herend has chosen to remain a hands-on maker 

of porcelain – a manufacturer in the primary sense of the 

term – has also enabled it to preserve a body of specia - 

list knowledge that is increasingly appreciated, in particu - 

lar for special commissions based on the plans supplied 

by the client or developed at the factory in consultation 

with the client. These are unique pieces or pieces produced 

in very limited numbers for individuals or illustrious 

sponsors. This is just what the historic porcelain makers 

of the 18 th century used to do, those factories that 

Moritz Fischer made such fervent efforts to equal. 

91 

(RB) 

(RB) 

Pálma Babos (1961): 

Détail d’une anse 

Pálma Babos (1961): 

Detail of a handle

92 

93 

62 

Márta Nagy (1954) 

Boîte au Chinois, 1998 

long. 20 cm 

HPMA, inv. 32/1.1-2/2000 

Márta Nagy (1954) 

Box with a Chinese, 1998 

Length 20 cm 

HPMA, inv. 32/1.1-2/2000 

60 


Service à thé, 1999 

haut. de la théière 17 cm 

HPMA, inv. 25/1/2000 


Tea service, 1999 

Height of teapot 17 cm 

HPMA, inv. 25/1/2000 

61 

Pálma Babos (1961) 


haut. de la cafetière 16 cm 

HPMA, inv. 61/1.1-2/2000; 21/1-2/2000; 

22/1.1-2/2000; 23/1/2000 

Pálma Babos (1961) 


Height of coffee pot 16 cm 

HPMA, inv. 61/1.1-2/2000; 21/1-2/2000; 

22/1.1-2/2000; 23/1/2000

94 

64 

Ákos Tamás (1954) 

Pyramide, 1992 

haut. 25 cm 

HPM, inv. 102 

95 

Ákos Tamás (1954) 

Pyramid, 1992 

Height 25 cm 

HPM, inv. 102 

63 

Zoltán Takács (1951) 

Hommage à Bernard Palissy, 1995 

Porcelaine, lustre 

Diam. 32 cm 

HPMA, inv. 162/1/2000 

Zoltán Takács (1951) 

A Tribute to Bernard Palissy, 1995 

Porcelain, lustre glaze 

Diam. 32 cm 

HPMA, inv. 162/1/2000

96 65 


Le Minotaure et son aimée, 1996 

Étude pour la manufacture 

haut. 30 cm 

HPMA, inv. 25/1/2001 

97 


The Minotaur and his Lover, 1996 

Study for the manufactory studio 

Height 30 cm 

HPMA, inv. 25/1/2001 

66 


Les amants, 1989 

Terre cuite enfumée 

haut. 41,2 cm 

Signé: S.I. 


67 


Le Minotaure et son aimée, 

1995/97 


haut. 34 cm 

HPMA, inv. 28/1/2001 


The Lovers, 1989 

Raku-fired clay 


Signed: S.I. 



The Minotaur and his Lover, 

1995/97 


Height 34 cm 

HPMA, inv. 28/1/2001

98 68 


Groupe de cinq, 1995/97 


haut. 22 cm 

HPMA, inv. 40/1/2001 

99 


Group of Five, 1995/97 


Height 22 cm 

HPMA, inv. 40/1/2001 

69 


Pestdoktor, 1999 

haut. 100 cm 

HPM, inv. 15032.0.00B 


Pestdoktor, 1999 

Height 100 cm 

HPM, inv. 15032.0.00B

Publié dans le cadre de l’exposition / 

Published in conjunction with the exhibition 

Porcelaine de Herend – L’or blanc de Hongrie 

Musée Ariana, Genève, 

13 novembre 2008 – 9 mars 2009 

Concept éditorial / Editorial concept: 

Roland Blaettler, László Szathmáry 

Graphisme / Graphic design: 

Eszter Domé 

Photographies / Photographs: 

Balázs Csekovszky, Péter Huber, Nathalie Sabato 

Traductions / Translations: 

László Sujtó, Lara Strong, Axone Services linguistiques 

Imprimé chez / Printed by: 

Prospektus Nyomda, Hongrie 

© Musées d’art et d’histoire, Genève, 2008, 

et les propriétaires des œuvres pour les illustrations 

ISBN 978-2-8306-0242-5

LA PORCELAINE DE HEREND HEREND PORCELAIN

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